2025-01-08 07:24

Gold import revision reduces trade deficit by $5 billion Imports still a record $47 billion in first 11 months of 2024 Gold outperforms stocks for Indian investors, boosting demand for coins and bars MUMBAI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - India has cut its November gold import estimates by an unprecedented $5 billion, the largest revision for any commodity in history, after errors in preliminary calculations inflated the figure to a record, government data showed on Wednesday. New Delhi said last month its gold imports hit a record high of $14.8 billion in November, more than doubling from $7.13 billion in October. The spike widened the country's merchandise trade deficit (INTRD=ECI) , opens new tab to a record $37.84 billion in November, exceeding economists' forecast of $23.9 billion and spooking financial markets. The country's gold imports in November were $9.84 billion, compared with a preliminary estimate of $14.8 billion published last month, data compiled by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) showed. The downward revision in gold imports by $5 billion would reduce the trade deficit by a similar amount, said a government official, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak publicly. India is the world's second-largest consumer of gold and relies on imports to meet most of its demand, which typically increases during the festival and wedding season in the December quarter. Despite the revision of November numbers, the country spent a record $47 billion on gold imports in the first 11 months of 2024, surpassing the $42.6 billion spent during the whole of 2023, as gold prices jumped to a record high , the data showed. Gold delivered better returns than stocks for Indian investors in 2024, driving increased demand for coins and bars, according to the World Gold Council. India imports gold from countries including African countries, Peru, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. Its gold imports rose sharply after India, in July, cut import duties on gold to 6% from 15%. Higher November imports raised concerns among the bullion industry of import duty hikes to curb consumption, but revised data shows no unusual demand rise, a Mumbai-based dealer with a gold importing bank said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/india-slashes-nov-gold-imports-by-5-bln-record-commodity-revision-2025-01-08/

2025-01-08 07:19

Oil stuck in two Chinese ports since 2018 Urgency grows to recoup oil as Trump could tighten sanctions Iran under pressure to pay storage fees to gain oil's release Iran has been selling oil under sanctions for decades LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Iran is pushing to recoup 25 million barrels of oil from China that has been stuck for six years in Chinese ports due to sanctions imposed by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, three Iranian and one Chinese source familiar with the matter said. Trump is returning to power on Jan. 20, and analysts say he is expected to tighten sanctions again on Iranian oil exports to limit Tehran's income, as he did during his first term as president. China, which says it does not recognise unilateral sanctions, has been buying about 90% of Tehran's oil exports in recent years at discounts that have saved its refiners billions of dollars. But the stranded oil, worth $1.75 billion at today's prices, highlights the challenges Iran is facing with selling oil even in China. Iran's Oil Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Asked about the stranded oil, China's foreign ministry said China's cooperation with Iran was legitimate but declined further comment. Despite some of the West's toughest sanctions, Iran has built a roaring global trade for its oil, relying on a shadow fleet of tankers that conceal their activity. Most Iranian oil sold to China is redocumented as non-Iranian en route to Chinese ports. The stranded oil, however, was documented as Iranian oil when Iran's national oil company NIOC delivered it to Chinese ports around October 2018 using waivers granted by Trump, two of the four sources familiar with the shipments said. NIOC stored the oil in the ports of Dalian and Zhoushan in east China, where it had been leasing tanks, the sources said. Leasing tanks gave NIOC flexibility to sell oil in China or ship it to other buyers in the region. But in early 2019, Trump scrapped the waivers, and the oil never found buyers or cleared Chinese customs and remained trapped in the tanks, according to three of the four sources. Oil tanks in Dalian are run by PDA Energy, which is asking Iran to pay more than $450 million in storage fees accumulated since 2018, one of the three Iranian sources said. In Zhoushan, the tanks are operated by private storage operator CGPC. Liaoning Port Co (601880.SS) , opens new tab, which controls PDA Energy in Dalian, did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters was unable to reach CGPC for comment as calls to the company went unanswered. The talks between Iranian officials and the Chinese storage operators on payment of storage fees and other conditions for releasing the oil took on added urgency in recent weeks due to Tehran's concerns that Trump could again tighten sanctions, one of the Iranian sources familiar with the discussions said. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Beijing in December and made some progress on the issue of stranded oil, the Iranian source said but gave no further detail. Iran would have to reload oil from tanks into ships, make a ship-to-ship transfer at sea and redocument it in order to be able to sell it, one of the Iranian sources said, citing his experience with Iranian oil exports and Chinese customs proceedings. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iran-pushes-china-let-it-sell-17-billion-worth-stranded-oil-sources-say-2025-01-08/

2025-01-08 07:02

MANILA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The Philippines is encouraging importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to voluntarily aggregate purchases of the super-chilled fuel in efforts to lower prices and improve market efficiencies, government officials said on Wednesday. "If there is a voluntary effort, then we encourage the industry to aggregate their supply of importation of LNG," said energy secretary Raphael Lotilla, speaking to reporters at a press event. He added that the government is studying options to appoint a state entity to lead aggregate buying efforts, but that non-government entities could do so as well. While the government does not want to influence the market, Energy Undersecretary Alessandro Sales said "there are efficiencies in aggregation that can be very beneficial to the consumer." "All of this has to be worked out in the market framework," Sales said. "We have to consider all of that, because there are also considerations in terms of energy security that have to be factored in when we move forward in finalising any plans on this aggregation." Currently with two import terminals, the Philippines began shipping in LNG in mid-2023 to replace gas from its depleting Malampaya field. Imported gas costs however are higher than domestic production, and are passed on to consumers in the form of higher power prices. The country's debut LNG cargo arrived in April 2023 to supply San Miguel Global Power Holdings. Power producer First Gen Corp then sought its commissioning cargo in the following month before buying its first cargo in July 2023. The Southeast Asian nation received 19 cargoes of LNG last year, all on a spot basis, according to data from analytics firm Kpler. None of the importers have signed long-term deals to import LNG, which helps hedge against volatility in the spot market and provide security of supply. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/philippines-encourages-lng-importers-aggregate-buying-2025-01-08/

2025-01-08 07:00

JAKARTA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Indonesia has clamped down on exports of used cooking oil (UCO) and palm oil residue to ensure supply to domestic cooking oil and biodiesel industries, the government said in a new regulation on Wednesday. The step by the world's top producer and exporter of palm oil aims to help attain a new mandate starting from this year, of mixing 40% of palm oil-based fuel with diesel fuel, called B40, up from 35% previously, it said. Authorities in Indonesia have been looking into ways to curb UCO exports, but the extent of the tightening was not immediately clear. Last month, an official alleged that some cooking oil sold under a government programme called "Minyakita" had been mislabelled as UCO and shipped overseas for biodiesel feedstock, media said. The new regulation, which takes effect immediately, requires all exporters of palm oil residue and UCO, including palm oil mill effluent (POME), to acquire an export allocation from the government. Such allocations will be set at a meeting of officials of ministries such as trade and that which coordinates food affairs. POME can be used to produce biogas, fertiliser, and fuel. Indonesia's exports of UCO and palm oil residue from January to November 2024 stood at 3.95 million metric tons, down 13.75% from the corresponding 2023 period, data from Statistics Indonesia showed. However, government officials have repeatedly said there were signs of scarcity of the Minyakita product, citing retailers' sale of such items at about a tenth higher than the government's maximum retail price. Indonesia mandates all palm oil exporters to sell some of their crude palm oil domestically at a capped price to be made into Minyakita cooking oil, which is then sold at a regulated, affordable price. Some in the palm oil industry have expressed concern the B40 mandate could disrupt exports. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/indonesia-curbs-exports-used-cooking-oil-palm-residue-help-domestic-users-2025-01-08/

2025-01-08 06:18

Ten-year Treasury yields ease from multi-month highs in holiday-shortened session Analysts point to UK economic woes, Trump uncertainty for bond rout Stocks sold into US holiday Thursday; crucial jobs report on Friday TOKYO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A global bond rout eased on Thursday and the dollar held steady near its highest levels in more than a year, although stocks continued to fall with most Asian indexes down on the day. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield eased to 4.6648% in Asia from an overnight peak of 4.73%, which was the highest level since April 2024. Equivalent-maturity Japanese government bond yields started the day by rising 1 basis point to the highest since May 2011 at 1.185%, but later followed the wider trend and were flat as of 0537 GMT. Similar-dated Australian sovereign yields matched Wednesday's peak of 4.546%, which is also the highest level since late November, but were last at 4.491%. All eyes are now turning to UK bonds, which have been at the centre of the selloff, with growing concern about Britain's economic and fiscal health, despite no obvious trigger for this week's 20-bps surge in 10-year gilt yields . "Clearly there is reason to watch the UK bond market intently, and the recent trend is certainly concerning," Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone, said. "However, we can take some assurances that the BoE (Bank of England) is more prepared this time around." Sterling sagged 0.26% to $1.23325, extending its 0.9% slump from Wednesday. The U.S. dollar index , which gauges the currency against sterling, the euro and four other major peers, edged up to 109.07, sitting not too far from the highest level since November 2022 of 109.54, reached a week ago. PRESSURE POINTS The latest boost for the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields follows recent signs of resilience in the U.S. economy and inflation, which had prompted markets to reduce expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. Minutes of the Fed's December policy meeting, released on Wednesday, showed officials were concerned that President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs and immigration policies may prolong the fight against inflation. Selling in Treasuries on Wednesday accelerated after a CNN report Trump was considering declaring a national economic emergency to provide a legal justification for a series of universal levies on allies and adversaries. Markets are fully pricing in just one 25-bp rate cut in 2025, and see around a 60% chance of a second. All that has combined to make global stock market sentiment fragile, and Asian equities were mostly in the red on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei (.N225) , opens new tab dropped 1.2%, with the additional headwind of a rebounding yen, which added about 0.2% to 158.08 per dollar following its slide to a nearly six-month trough of 158.55 per dollar on Wednesday. Australia's stock benchmark (.AXJO) , opens new tab slipped 0.5%, while Taiwanese shares (.TWII) , opens new tab lost 1.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Sang (.HSI) , opens new tab and mainland Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) , opens new tab were both little changed. U.S. S&P 500 futures (.EScv1) , opens new tab pointed 0.2% lower, after the cash index (.SPX) , opens new tab eked out a 0.2% gain overnight. Pan-European STOXX 50 futures were slightly lower, though UK FTSE futures added 0.2%. U.S. stock markets are closed on Thursday and Treasuries have a shortened session to mark a national day of mourning following the death of former President Jimmy Carter. On Friday, the closely watched U.S. monthly payrolls report will provide clues on the Fed policy outlook. China's yuan steadied near a 16-month low against the dollar as the nation's central bank announced a record amount of offshore yuan bill sales to support the currency. "This move underscores Chinese policymakers' unwavering preference for currency stability," said Shoki Omori, a strategist at Mizuho Securities, predicting the Chinese currency will firm to 7.22 per dollar by year-end. The onshore yuan traded little changed at 7.3310 per dollar, but was not far from the previous day's low of 7.3322, the weakest since September 2023. Oil prices edged lower, pressured by recent dollar strength and large builds in U.S. fuel inventories last week. Brent crude futures eased 4 cents to $76.11 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 8 cents to $73.24. Gold prices edged down 0.1% to around $2,659 an ounce from an overnight peak of $2,670.10, its highest level since Dec. 13. Leading cryptocurrency bitcoin was steady around $94,508, following a two-day slide of 7%. ($1 = 7.3314 Chinese yuan) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2025-01-08/

2025-01-08 06:03

LITTLETON, Colorado, Jan 8 (Reuters) - For the first time, over 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) was discharged from U.S. gas-fired power stations in a single year during 2024, marking a new pollution threshold for the world's largest gas producer and consumer. The 1.003 billion ton emissions figure is 3.6% up from 2023, and marks a 40% jump in gas-fired power generation emissions since 2015, according to data from Ember. Those numbers look large, but lack important context. Discharge from the U.S. fleet of coal-fired power stations was just under 620 million tons last year, a record low due to the smallest coal-fired power generation level on record. And as U.S. coal plants discharge 77% more CO2 per unit of electricity than gas-fired plants, the lower coal generation totals reveal that the U.S. power system has actually made steep cuts to overall pollution even as gas emissions have climbed. COAL VS CLEAN Thanks to the cuts to coal use, total U.S. power emissions from all fossil fuels were up only 0.5% in 2024 from 2023 to 1.64 billion tons, and were down 19% since 2015. What's more, that emissions load has declined despite total electricity generation climbing to all-time highs in 2024. A rapid climb in electricity generation from clean power - including from solar, wind, hydro and nuclear assets - has helped meet much of the rise in consumption in recent years. Total clean electricity generation was 35% higher in 2024 than in 2015, thanks mainly to a nearly eightfold rise in solar generation and a more than doubling in output from wind farms during that period. But fossil fuels remain the backbone of the U.S. generation system, supplying just over 58% of all electricity last year. Natural gas accounted for a record 73% of that fossil share, while coal plants supplied the remaining 26% or so. Power firms plan to make further cuts to coal use over the remainder of this decade, while adding more renewables to the generation mix to ensure total electricity supplies continue to climb in line with demand. But power suppliers are also set to become even more reliant on natural gas, especially for system-balancing needs whenever intermittent output from renewable energy sources falls short of overall demand needs. GAS FIX Over 30 U.S. states rely on natural gas for 30% or more of their electricity needs, according to Ember. Thirteen of those states rely on gas for 50% or more of their electricity, while an additional nine states use gas for between 15% and 30% of their electricity. On top of that, nearly 50 gas-fired plants are in pre-construction or are under construction across the U.S., according to Global Energy Monitor, with a combined capacity of close to 30,000 megawatts. That heavy reliance on legacy and new power plants and pipelines means that natural gas will remain integral to the U.S. power system for decades, even as renewable generation totals continue to climb. That in turn means that overall emissions from natural gas use in the U.S. will also continue to climb. But some of those gas plants will be used to replace retiring coal power stations, which on average have already been operating for 45 years according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That means even as more gas capacity comes on line, some of the highest-polluting U.S. coal plants will be shuttered over roughly the same period, which should help cap overall fossil fuel pollution even as the U.S. power system gets ever gassier. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a market analyst for Reuters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/us-gas-fired-power-boom-reveals-key-emissions-payoff-2024-maguire-2025-01-08/