2025-11-24 10:37
India seeing many IPOs as markets scale new highs Sembcorp filed for an IPO in 2018 but withdrew months later Axis, Citi, HSBC appointed as bankers for India IPO, sources say Sembcorp targetting a Mumbai listing in 8-9 months MUMBAI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Singapore's Temasek-backed Sembcorp Industries (SCIL.SI) , opens new tab has started talks over an initial public offering of its India unit in Mumbai and appointed three investment banks, including Citi and HSBC, three sources familiar with the matter said. Talks are at an early stage and no decision has been made on the size of the offering. The move marks Sembcorp’s second attempt to list its India business after withdrawing a draft prospectus in January 2019 to inject new equity. Sign up here. Sembcorp's Indian arm, Sembcorp Green Infra, operates businesses in wind, solar and energy storage, and competes with the likes of Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) , opens new tab and Avaada Group. Indian markets are trading near record highs and have seen a surge in listings. Companies have raised more than $16 billion so far in 2025, making India the world’s third-largest IPO market, according to Dealogic. The IPO, targeted for launch within eight to nine months in Mumbai, will be advised by Citi (C.N) , opens new tab, HSBC and India’s Axis Capital, the sources said, declining to be named as the matter is confidential. Citi and HSBC declined to comment, while Sembcorp and Axis did not respond to requests for comment. Sembcorp's renewed India IPO plans have not been previously reported. Sembcorp Green Infra sold its thermal power assets in India for $1.47 billion to Tanweer Infrastructure Pte in 2023. It has further expanded its renewable energy portfolio and signed a deal in October to acquire ReNew Power's solar energy unit for about $188 million. Sembcorp's India unit made a profit of $40 million in the year ending March 31, 2024, with revenues of $252 million, regulatory disclosures show. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/singaporean-energy-firm-sembcorp-plans-ipo-indian-unit-sources-say-2025-11-24/
2025-11-24 10:37
Nov 24 (Reuters) - UBS expects copper prices to rise into next year, citing tightening supply from persistent mine disruptions and strong long-term demand from electrification and clean-energy investment, the bank said in a note on Friday. In its updated projections, UBS raised its March 2026 price forecast by $750 per metric ton to $11,500, increased its June and September 2026 targets by $1,000 a ton to $12,000 and $12,500, respectively, and introduced a new December 2026 target of $13,000 per ton. Sign up here. UBS also raised its market deficit forecasts to 230,000 tons in 2025, up from 53,000 tons previously, and to 407,000 tons in 2026, up from 87,000 tons before, saying falling inventories and persistent supply risks will keep conditions tight. The bank said mine disruptions this year, including production issues at Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg mine in Indonesia, slower output recovery in Chile, and recurring protests in Peru underscore structural supply constraints that are likely to extend into 2026. Last week, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX.N) , opens new tab said it planned to restore production at Indonesia's Grasberg copper and gold mine by July after a fatal incident forced operations to halt two months ago. UBS trimmed its refined copper production growth estimates to 1.2% for 2025 and 2.2% for 2026, citing grade declines and operational challenges. It expects global copper demand to grow 2.8% in both 2025 and 2026, supported by electric vehicles, renewable energy, power-grid investment and data centres. The bank said any price weakness should be short-lived and recommended remaining long copper or using volatility-selling strategies. The most-active copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange < SCFcv1> closed daytime trade up 0.09% at 86,080 yuan ($12,112.68) per metric ton. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ubs-raises-copper-outlook-mine-disruptions-deepen-supply-deficits-2025-11-24/
2025-11-24 10:35
SINGAPORE, Nov 24 (Reuters) - China's state oil trader Unipec, a vehicle of refining giant Sinopec Corp , has signed a term deal to supply about 60,000 metric tons of jet fuel to Lufthansa annually, Sinopec said on Monday. The supplies will feed Lufthansa's supply chains at airports in Belgium and Germany, Sinopec said in its inhouse newspaper. Sign up here. Unipec's jet fuel supplies have until now covered aviation hubs in Western Europe and North Africa, with annual supplies, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), exceeding 5 million metric tons for the fourth year in a row, Sinopec said. Unipec's SAF sales in Europe reached 120,000 tons this year, after deals for term supplies signed with both Lufthansa and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-unipec-agrees-jet-fuel-term-supply-deal-with-lufthansa-2025-11-24/
2025-11-24 09:14
Russia's oil and gas revenue to fall to $6.59 bln in November Stronger rouble, cheaper oil behind the fall MOSCOW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Russian state oil and gas revenue may fall in November by around 35% from the corresponding month in 2024 to 520 billion roubles ($6.59 billion) due to cheaper oil and a stronger rouble, Reuters calculations showed on Monday. The decline in proceeds is painful for Russia, which has heavily boosted defence and security spending since launching its military campaign in Ukraine, which it calls a special military operation, in February 2022. Sign up here. Oil and gas revenue has been the most important source of cash for the Kremlin, making up a quarter of total federal budget proceeds. The revenue, gained from taxing profits, is also set to decline by 7.4% from October, excluding cyclical payments. For the first 11 months as a whole, oil and gas revenue is seen falling by 22% to 8 trillion roubles. According to Reuters calculations, the price of Russian oil for tax purposes declined in January-November, to stand at $57.3 per barrel, compared to $68.3 in the same period last year. At the same time, the rouble has strengthened to 81.1 per dollar from 91.7 in January-November 2024. The Finance Ministry will publish its estimates on December 3. Ukraine and its backers in Western Europe have repeatedly said they want to force Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter, to stop its war by undermining its economy. The U.S. Treasury said on November 17 that U.S. sanctions against Russian oil majors Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab and Lukoil (LKOH.MM) , opens new tab were already reducing Moscow's oil revenues and were likely to reduce the quantity of Russian oil sold in the long term. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Russia will never be forced into doing anything and that, though sanctions can cause pain to the Russian economy, it can survive and even prosper without the West. The Finance Ministry had initially expected to earn 10.94 trillion roubles from oil and gas sales this year, but falling oil prices led it to revise down that expectation last month, to 8.65 trillion roubles. Oil and gas revenue reached 11.13 trillion roubles last year. ($1=78.9500 roubles) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russias-oil-gas-revenue-may-fall-november-by-35-reuters-calculations-show-2025-11-24/
2025-11-24 09:05
China's bitcoin mining market share rebounds to 3rd globally, Hashrate Index shows Beijing’s softening stance, cheap electricity attract crypto miners Bitcoin seen as strategic asset amid Sino-US rivalry, analyst says Nov 24 (Reuters) - Bitcoin mining is quietly staging a comeback in China despite being banned four years ago, as individual and corporate miners exploit cheap electricity and a data center boom in some energy-rich provinces, according to miners and industry data. China had been the world's biggest crypto mining country until Beijing banned all cryptocurrency trading and mining in 2021, citing threats to the country's financial stability and energy conservation. Sign up here. After having seen its global bitcoin mining market share slump to zero as a result of the ban, China crept back to third place with a 14% share at the end of October, according to Hashrate Index, which tracks bitcoin mining activities. The resurgence in bitcoin mining, which has also been corroborated by rig maker Canaan Inc’s (CAN.O) , opens new tab fast-rebounding sales in China, could act as a demand and price support for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Wang, a private miner in Xinjiang, said he started mining late last year in the energy-abundant province. "A lot of energy cannot be transmitted out of Xinjiang, so you consume it in the form of crypto mining," Wang said, asking to be identified by just his last name. "New mining projects are under construction. What I can say is that people mine where electricity is cheap." China’s state planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission, which issued the ban in 2021, and the Xinjiang government did not reply to faxed Reuters requests for comment. MINING RESURGENCE Beijing's crackdown on the sector in 2021 led to miners shutting down local operations and fleeing to overseas markets such as North America and Central Asia. The rebound in bitcoin mining coincides with the digital asset hitting record highs in October on the back of U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies, and growing distrust toward the dollar, making crypto mining more rewarding. The cryptocurrency, however, is down roughly a third from its October peak as global risk appetite wanes. “Chinese policy flexibility emerges when economic incentives are strong in specific regions,” said Patrick Gruhn, CEO of Perpetuals.com, a provider of crypto market infrastructure. "The resurgence of mining activity in China is one of the most important signals the market has seen in years.” China has not officially relaxed bitcoin mining curbs, but "even hints of China's policy easing could act as a tailwind for bitcoin's narrative as a global, state-resilient asset," he said, pointing to industry data signaling renewed activity. Bitcoin mining - the energy-intensive process of using specialised computers to solve complex puzzles to win bitcoins - is especially active in power-abundant hinterlands such as Xinjiang, according to miners and rig makers. Sichuan-based Duke Huang, who quit bitcoin mining a few years ago due to the Chinese regulatory ban, said some of his friends have come back to the business recently. "It's a sensitive area ... But people who get cheap electricity are still mining." Besides higher bitcoin prices, a glut of electricity and computing power following over-investment in data centers by some cash-strapped Chinese local governments fuelled the rebound, said a source at a bitcoin mining rig maker, who did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity involved. CRYPTO POLICY The trend is also captured by sales data from mining rig makers. Canaan, the world's second-biggest bitcoin mining machine maker, generated 30.3% of its global revenues in China last year, compared with 2.8% in 2022 in the aftermath of the crackdown, according to company filings. China's contribution to Canaan's sales jumped further to more than 50% during the second quarter this year, according to a source with direct knowledge, who declined to be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media. Canaan, which did not confirm the second-quarter sales breakdown, attributed its growing sales in China to this year’s U.S. tariff uncertainty that disrupted U.S. sales, rising bitcoin prices that make mining more profitable, and a subtle shift in China’s digital asset posture. In an emailed statement, the Singapore-based company said its activities remain fully compliant with Chinese regulations but refused to comment on mining policies in China. “In China, the R&D, manufacturing, and sale of mining machines are permitted,” Canaan said. The pickup in bitcoin mining in China comes amid signs that Beijing has softened its attitude toward digital coins. These were once seen as a challenge to China's fiat currencies and abetting capital flight. Hong Kong's stablecoin bill, for example, took effect in August, enabling the Chinese city to compete with the U.S. in fostering a regulated market for fiat-currency-backed cryptocurrencies. China was also considering allowing the use of yuan-backed stablecoins to boost the wider adoption of its currency globally and catch up with a U.S. push on stablecoins, Reuters reported in August, citing sources familiar with the matter. "Bitcoin mining is still officially banned in China. However, there continues to be significant capacity operating," said Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, a blockchain data & analytics firm. CryptoQuant estimated that 15%-20% of global bitcoin mining capacity currently operates in China. Liu Honglin, founder of Man Kun Law Firm, said it is hard to wipe out a profitable business. "I personally think government policies against mining will be gradually loosened, because you simply cannot stop such activities completely." https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bitcoin-mining-china-rebounds-defying-2021-ban-2025-11-24/
2025-11-24 09:04
FRANKFURT, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Stablecoins could draw valuable retail deposits away from euro zone banks and any run on a coin could have widespread stability implications for the global financial system, the European Central Bank warned on Monday. Stablecoins, digital assets designed to maintain a stable value, have been growing in popularity and their market value now exceeds $280 billion, a relatively small figure but still notable because issuers have been among the largest buyers of U.S. Treasuries. Sign up here. They are intended as a store of value and to provide cross-border payments, but their real use is in buying crypto assets, the ECB argued in a Financial Stability Review article, adding that about 80% of all trades currently executed globally on centralised crypto trading platforms involve stablecoins. "Significant growth in stablecoins could cause retail deposit outflows, diminishing an important source of funding for banks and leaving them with more volatile funding overall," the ECB said. But the main risk is posed by a possible investor run since the two largest stablecoins rank among the largest holders of U.S. Treasury bills and have asset reserves that are comparable to the top 20 largest money market funds. "A run on these stablecoins could trigger a fire sale of their reserve assets, which could affect the functioning of U.S. Treasury markets," the ECB added. Such runs could also impact the euro zone if a European Union entity and a third-country entity jointly issue a fungible stablecoin, since EU regulations are tighter and investors are more likely to pick it for redemption. "This could leave EU issuers with insufficient reserve assets under the supervision of EU authorities to fulfil the combined redemption requests made by EU and non-EU token holders, amplifying run risks in the EU," the ECB added. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/stablecoins-could-siphon-off-euro-zone-bank-deposits-ecb-warns-2025-11-24/
