2025-07-01 07:43
MADRID, July 1 (Reuters) - High-speed train traffic between Madrid and the southern Spanish region of Andalusia resumed on Tuesday, after a power cable failure left passengers stranded in train carriages and at stations overnight, railway infrastructure operator ADIF said. Around 20 trains were blocked on the tracks or unable to depart on Monday evening, with approximately 10 more cancelled on Tuesday morning in Madrid and southern Spanish cities including Seville, where global leaders are attending a United Nations conference on development financing. Sign up here. Traffic between the towns of Yeles and La Sagra, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Madrid, was suspended at 8:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) when an overhead cable malfunctioned, a spokesperson for the state-owned ADIF said. The cause of the malfunction was unknown, he said, and ADIF had postponed the resumption of service four times before launching the first train around 11:00 a.m. (0900 GMT). The backlog of passengers would slowly reduce during the day, it said. ADIF had called on regional emergency services to evacuate stranded passengers, some of whom spent hours stuck inside the trains in blistering heat. At least one train full of passengers remained on the tracks the entire night, the spokesperson said. The high-speed network has rapidly expanded in Spain as part of a government push to decarbonise public transport. The network connects almost all the country's big cities but is vulnerable to cable incidents as it crosses large swathes of scarcely populated areas. A copper cable theft paralysed the same line for more than 12 hours in early May. https://www.reuters.com/world/high-speed-train-line-spains-andalusia-cut-after-power-cable-failure-2025-07-01/
2025-07-01 07:41
July 1 (Reuters) - Expectations in Germany's chemical industry improved significantly in June as companies pin their hopes on a planned reduction in electricity tax for industry, according to a survey published on Tuesday. The Ifo economic expectations indicator for the sector entered positive territory in June, reaching 9.5 points, its highest in three and a half years, from -5.4 points in May. Sign up here. The German government plans to cut electricity tax for selected sectors, limiting its planned relief to industry, agriculture and forestry. The plans have prompted criticism from representatives from the retail, industrial, and energy sectors, who warn it could distort competition and have limited impact. Electricity prices in Germany are among the highest in the world, ranking fifth globally in the first quarter of the year with an average of 38 euro cents per kilowatt-hour. "However, the increased confidence is hardly reflected so far in the current business situation of many companies," Ifo said, adding that the order backlog remains extremely low. Some companies are benefiting from lower raw material costs and the first signs of an upturn in demand on international markets, Ifo said, while also flagging the United States' protectionist tariff policy, high location costs and geopolitical uncertainty as weighing on the sector's recovery. "In this situation, the state investments decided by the German government are providing urgently needed impetus," Ifo industry analyst Anna Wolf said. (This story has been corrected to change the period to 3.5 years from 2.5 years in paragraph 2 following a correction of the Ifo statement) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/mood-germanys-chemical-industry-brightens-power-subsidy-plan-ifo-says-2025-07-01/
2025-07-01 07:30
SYDNEY, July 1 (Reuters) - A "bomb cyclone" has lashed Australia's most populous state with heavy rain and strong winds, forcing airlines to cancel domestic flights and prompting evacuation warnings in coastal communities. Authorities on Tuesday warned that parts of New South Wales could also expect the wild weather to worsen in the next 24 hours, with up to 250 mm (9.8 inches) of rain and winds up to 125 kph (78 mph) predicted. Sign up here. Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib said the size of the system was "enormous". "It may seem pretty bad but the terrible thing is the situation is going to worsen over the course of the next 24 hours," he told a news conference on Tuesday afternoon. Residents living along areas vulnerable to coastal erosion have been told to leave their homes with minor flood warnings also in place for several communities along the state's Mid North Coast. Qantas Airways (QAN.AX) , opens new tab cancelled at least 11 domestic flights operating from Sydney and Virgin Australia (VGN.AX) , opens new tab cancelled 12, the Sydney Airport website showed. No international flights have been affected. "Some services on Virgin Australia's network have been impacted by adverse weather in Sydney and Newcastle today," a Virgin Australia spokesperson said by email. Australia’s weather bureau said a "bomb cyclone", or "bombogenesis", was a low-pressure system that formed quickly and caused pressure to drop significantly within a short period of time. The weather system is expected to shift offshore into the Tasman Sea on Wednesday and ease by Thursday, the bureau said. "Damaging winds and large seas will continue across much of the coast through Wednesday, with warnings expected to continue," Senior Meteorologist Helen Reid said. "Conditions will continue to ease into Friday with only very light isolated showers lingering about the east coast by the end of the week." https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/sydney-flights-disrupted-by-heavy-rain-winds-flood-alert-raised-2025-07-01/
2025-07-01 07:00
NEW DELHI, July 1 (Reuters) - India has dispatched a team of geologists to Zambia to explore copper and cobalt deposits, two Indian government sources said, as New Delhi steps up efforts to secure critical mineral supplies essential to its energy transition. The Zambian government this year agreed to allocate 9,000 square km (3,475 square miles) to India for the exploration of cobalt - a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and mobile phones - as well as for scouting copper, which is widely used in power generation, electronics, and construction. Sign up here. The exploration project will last for three years and most of the analysis will be done in laboratories in India, one of the sources said. The team is expected to make multiple visits over the course of the entire project, said the sources, who declined to be identified because the information is not public. After assessing the mining potential, the Indian government will seek a mining lease from the Zambian government and may also invite private-sector companies to participate in the project, the sources said. India's Ministry of Mines did not respond to a request for comment. New Delhi has been in talks with several African countries to acquire critical mineral blocks on a government-to-government basis, while also exploring opportunities in Australia and Latin America. India is also in discussions with the Democratic Republic of Congo to sign an initial agreement to secure supplies of cobalt and copper, Reuters reported in March. An Indian delegation attended a mining conference in Congo last month and toured local mines, the ministry said in a post on X. India has held internal discussions over its growing vulnerability to a tightening global copper market and plans to explore ways to secure supply from resource-rich countries during ongoing trade negotiations, Reuters reported last week. India's copper imports have risen sharply since the 2018 closure of Vedanta's (VDAN.NS) , opens new tab Sterlite Copper smelter. The country imported 1.2 million metric tons of copper in the fiscal year ending March 2025, up 4% from the previous year. India is almost entirely dependent on cobalt imports and shipments of cobalt oxide rose 20% in 2024/25 to 693 metric tons, government data showed. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-sends-geologists-zambia-explore-copper-cobalt-deposits-sources-say-2025-07-01/
2025-07-01 06:49
Steep power tariff hikes hit data centres in Malaysia Unclear price bands fuel industry uncertainty Higher costs could erode competitiveness against neighbours KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 (Reuters) - The operators of energy-hungry data centres in Malaysia are scrambling to reassess costs after steeper-than-expected power tariffs kicked in on Tuesday, industry players said, clouding prospects for the Southeast Asian hub of digital investments. Competitive rates for electricity, which forms the bulk of operating costs, make Malaysia a magnet for data centres compared to land-scarce neighbour Singapore, luring billions of dollars in investment from companies like Microsoft and Google. Sign up here. The tariff hike unveiled in December, with details fleshed out last month, could boost electricity costs by 10% to 14% before surcharges for major consumers such as data centres, an industry official and a government official said. A key element of the uncertainty stems from the bands used to calculate power bills in the tiered pricing system, with industry players saying most major centres are expected to fall in the ultra-high voltage category with the highest tariffs. With many in the industry unprepared for the scale of increases, some investors may now adopt a wait-and-watch approach, said Gary Goh, founder and director of data centre advisory firm Sprint DC Consulting. "For a 100-megawatt (MW) facility, this could translate to an additional $15 million to $20 million per year without considering fuel surcharge," he added. The government plans to announce a fuel surcharge every month that reflects changes in fuel prices and foreign exchange. This month the surcharge stands at zero, state grid operator Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) said on its website on Tuesday. Malaysia is set for the region's fastest surge in data centre power demand, tripling to 21% by 2027 from 7% in 2022, a joint report in May by consultancy Bain & Co and firms such as Google and Singapore's state-owned Temasek showed. The new tariff structure means operators of big data centre operators will now account for a higher share of grid management costs than smaller peers, said Cheam Tat Inn, managing director of the Malaysian arm of U.S. operator Equinix. "If you are a large data centre, then you pay for a bigger share of the infrastructure or distribution network costs," Cheam said. Equinix, with two data centres in Malaysia, was looking at various providers of alternative energy in anticipation of higher tariffs, Cheam said last month. Tenaga declined to comment, directing queries to Malaysia's Energy Commission, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has defended the increases as necessary to boost social spending. Until now, Malaysia had used lower power prices and a stable power grid to lure investment in data centres. But tariff hikes could drive investment towards neighbouring Vietnam and Thailand, said Mahadhir Aziz, president of the Data Centre Association of Malaysia, which groups firms such as Bridge, AirTrunk and DayOne, as well as Equinix. "The government would have to look at this now, at least regionally," he added. "Data centers or digital infrastructure business, while they may have invested in land and buildings here, can actually still reconsider their investments." https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/malaysia-data-centres-battle-higher-power-costs-unclear-pricing-2025-07-01/
2025-07-01 06:44
Gold hits over-one week high Trump's tax-cut bill passes in Senate US payrolls data due on Thursday July 1 (Reuters) - Gold climbed more than 1% on Tuesday as investors sought safe haven assets after U.S. President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" passed in the Senate, ahead of the July 9 deadline for trade tariffs. Spot gold rose 1.1% to $3,338.24 per ounce, as of 2:25 p.m. EDT (1825 GMT), its highest level since June 24. U.S. gold futures settled 1.3% higher at $3,349.8. Sign up here. The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to pass a wide-ranging tax-cut and spending bill sought by Trump, which would cut several social service programmes. "The budget bill that passed is providing support because it seems that it will contribute to a deficit of $3 trillion over the next 10 years," Marex analyst Edward Meir said. "This is both to some extent inflationary, and more importantly, it will increase the debt burden that we have to service with more financing, more borrowing and all of these things are constructive for a stronger gold market." Gold, considered a store of value, tends to thrive on political and economic uncertainty. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that countries could be notified of sharply higher tariffs despite good-faith negotiations as July 9 approaches, when tariff rates are scheduled to revert from a temporary 10% level to Trump's suspended rates of 11% to 50%. Investors are watching out for U.S. ADP employment data due on Wednesday, and Thursday's payrolls data to gauge the Federal Reserve's policy path. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that excluding the tariffs, inflation was behaving as expected and hoped. Markets are currently expecting two rate cuts totaling 50 basis points this year, starting in September. Lower rates boost non-yielding gold's appeal. Gold is likely to average $3000/oz for the fourth quarter and possibly even lower by year-end, said Rhona O'Connell, head of market analysis for EMEA & Asia at StoneX. Spot silver was up 0.1% at $36.11 per ounce, while palladium was flat at $1,097.16, and platinum fell 0.7% to $1,342.78. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/gold-rises-weaker-dollar-tariff-uncertainty-before-deadline-2025-07-01/
