2025-06-11 11:59

Congo declared four-month export ban in February Ban pushed Glencore to declare force majeure on some contracts Some clients still receiving deliveries while others are not LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - Glencore (GLEN.L) , opens new tab declared force majeure on some deliveries of cobalt from Democratic Republic of Congo days after the government suspended exports of the battery material, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Congo, the world's largest cobalt producing country, introduced a four-month ban on all cobalt exports in February in an attempt to curb a supply glut that helped send prices to nine-year lows and stifled its tax revenues. Sign up here. As a result of the ban, London-listed Glencore took the rare step of declaring force majeure on some supply agreements for cobalt produced at its Congolese operations, invoking a measure meant for unforeseeable circumstances that prevent a contract's execution, the sources said. Glencore declined a Reuters request for comment. Glencore, the world's second-largest cobalt producing company, mined 35,100 metric tons of cobalt contained in concentrate and hydroxide at its Congo operations last year. Many of its customers are still receiving cobalt under their contracts, the sources said. And while others are not, it was unclear to what extent the supply issue had affected their operations. Cobalt is a byproduct of copper production in Congo, which accounted for 220,000 tons, or 78%, of global cobalt output last year. In metal form, it is used to manufacture parts for aerospace and military equipment. Most of the cobalt produced in Congo, however, comes in the form of hydroxide and is used to make chemicals for batteries used in electric vehicles and mobile devices. Growing surpluses - partly due to lower than expected demand for electric vehicles and a supply surge from operations owned by China's CMOC Group (603993.SS) , opens new tab - drove down cobalt prices to nearly $10 a pound or $22,000 a ton in February. Congo's export ban and a force majeure declaration in March by Eurasian Resources Group have since helped prices recover by around 35% to trade at $15.8 cents or a pound or $34,832 a ton on Wednesday . Congo has not said whether the export suspension will be extended when the ban ends on June 22, or if the government would look at export quotas. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/glencore-halted-some-cobalt-deliveries-over-congo-export-ban-2025-06-11/

2025-06-11 11:52

Russia says efforts for a deal should be redoubled Moscow says ready to accept nuclear materials MOSCOW, June 11 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it stood ready to remove highly enriched uranium from Iran and convert it into civilian reactor fuel as a potential way to help narrow U.S.-Iranian differences over the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme. Tehran says it has the right to peaceful nuclear power, but its swiftly-advancing uranium enrichment programme has raised fears in the wider West and across the Gulf that it wants to develop a nuclear weapon. Sign up here. The United States is trying to broker a deal to get Iran to rein in its nuclear activities, but President Donald Trump said in an interview released on Wednesday he was less confident than a couple of months ago that Iran will agree to halt enrichment. Last week, the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had told Trump in a phone call that he was ready to use Russia's close partnership with Iran to help advance those negotiations. On Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who oversees arms control and U.S. relations, told Russian media that efforts to reach a solution should be redoubled and that Moscow was willing to help in practical ways. "We are ready to provide assistance to both Washington and Tehran, not only politically, not only in the form of ideas that could be of use in the negotiation process, but also practically: for example, through the export of excess nuclear material produced by Iran and its subsequent adaptation to the production of fuel for reactors," Ryabkov said. He did not make clear whether the nuclear fuel would then be returned to Iran for use in its civil nuclear energy programme, which Moscow has helped develop. The United States wants all of Iran's highly enriched uranium (HEU) to be shipped out of the country. Tehran says it should only send out any excess amount above a ceiling that was agreed in a 2015 deal and cannot abandon enrichment altogether. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday confirmed Moscow's readiness to accept the uranium. "Here it is very important to say that if necessary, if the parties deem it necessary, Russia will be ready to provide such services," Peskov told reporters. Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power, does not want to see Iran acquire nuclear weapons, but believes it has every right to develop its own civilian nuclear programme - as a member of the 1970 global Non-Proliferation Treaty - and that any use of military force against it would be illegal. Moscow has bought weapons from Iran for its war in Ukraine and signed a 20-year strategic partnership deal with Tehran earlier this year. During his 2017-2021 term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from a landmark 2015 deal between Iran and world powers, including Russia, that had placed strict limits on Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. After Trump pulled out in 2018 and reimposed tough U.S. economic sanctions, Iran breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal's limits on enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy programme. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-it-is-ready-remove-excess-nuclear-materials-iran-2025-06-11/

2025-06-11 11:36

Peru the No. 1 blueberry exporter globally, top supplier to USA Local growers are looking to diversify markets amid trade war Peru, USA have a free trade agreement dating back to 2009 PISCO, Peru, June 11 (Reuters) - In Peru's Pisco Desert, rows of blueberry bushes towering as much as two meters high stretch towards the horizon, finally giving way to sand dunes. Traditional blueberries need chilly nights to bring fruit, but genetic innovations have created varieties like Eureka Sunset that can grow in this kind of arid landscape some 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Lima. For more than a decade the healthy berries have rolled north to U.S. supermarket shelves, but there is a rival buyer in town: China. Growers in Peru are looking for new markets as production rises and their best customer, the United States, is waging a trade tariff war on partners around the world. China has insatiable demand and has built a huge new port near Lima that cuts shipping time across the Pacific in half. Sign up here. "There will be a rebalancing of export share to different markets," said Miguel Bentín, general manager of major producer the Valle y Pampa farm, which began production in 2012 when the blueberry harvest was a tenth of the size it is today. The desert has long been a source of grapes made for Pisco brandy, the base for Pisco Sour cocktails, but blueberry growers have transformed the landscape by drilling wells up to 100 meters (328 feet) deep to find water for the crops and bringing in workers to care for them. Now, Bentin says, they are looking for new buyers. "The full potential of the Chinese market for our products has not yet been fully realized," Bentín told Reuters at the farm. Valle y Pampa typically ships 60% of its blueberries to the United States and the rest to Europe. This year, though, it is planning its first big China shipment to mitigate the impact of a 10% U.S. tariff on all goods from Peru. Peru overtook Chile in 2021 as the world's largest exporter of blueberries and the sector has been adding new markets, according to half a dozen ministers, farming and export officials, and government presentations seen by Reuters. "The search for new markets in Asia, Europe and Oceania (Australia) for agricultural exports has intensified," Peru's Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Úrsula León said in mid-May, explaining that U.S. tariffs could slow the deep purple fruit's booming rise that boosted Peru's exports by some $2.3 billion last year. Production during the 2025-2026 harvest is expected to grow by 25% to 400,000 tons. "If the U.S. tariff measure is maintained, there would be a drop in shipments, especially in the agricultural, textile and mining sectors," added León following a meeting with the Trump administration. She named India, Indonesia and China as markets with growth potential. Peru is negotiating to end U.S. tariffs, which it says breach a free trade agreement. If supplies from Peru decrease, U.S. consumers will likely see prices rise. The Andean country is its top supplier of blueberries ahead of Mexico and Chile. "With a significant portion of produce being imported to the U.S. and not easily produced domestically, tariffs may have an impact on product availability," said Ben Wynkoop, global industry strategist of grocery & convenience, at Blue Yonder, which provides supply chain software to global retailers. "Depending on the severity of the shortage, smaller retailers with limited negotiation power may face significant inventory shortages, particularly for blueberries," he added. "It won't be a moderate effect, it will be quite big," said Gabriel Amaro, head of the Peruvian Association of Agricultural Producers' Guilds, adding farmers were lobbying the government to find ways to soften the blow and protect the free trade deal. "Our strategy is market diversification. We have a whole list of products, especially to open up markets in Asia." David Magaña, senior research analyst at Rabobank, who specializes in the global fruit market downplayed the impact of tariffs. For one, China produces its own berries for more months of the year than the United States, he said. "I don't think anybody in the industry is expecting China to surpass the U.S. as the primary destination for Peruvian blueberries," added Magaña. CHINA-OWNED PORT A 'GAME CHANGER' Peru's wider farm exports - also including grapes and avocados - rose 22% to $12.8 billion last year, mainly to the United States and Europe. Exports of blueberries dipped 30% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, reflecting a change in harvest timing. However, even as quarterly U.S. shipments ticked down, those to China rose, from a lower base. Peru's new Chinese-controlled port of Chancay, meanwhile, cuts the sea journey times to Asia in half to around 20 days, a big plus for keeping fruit fresh. China's Guangzhou port in April joined others by opening a direct route to Chancay. U.S. fruit firm Fruitist, which produces most of its blueberries in Peru and is one of the Andean country's top exporters of the fruit, sent some 15-18 containers of blueberries to China late last year via Chancay. "It transforms the shipping part, the logistical part for everyone who's in fresh fruit in Peru," said John Early, Fruitist's director of global sales. "There is a huge opportunity to expand that business in China." Back in the Pisco Desert, Valle y Pampa manager Bentín agreed, forecasting a noticeable increase to China as the harvest begins to peak around August. "The port of Chancay, especially with its costs and faster transit times, is a game changer," he said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/peru-usas-top-blueberry-supplier-looks-china-tariffs-hit-2025-06-11/

2025-06-11 11:18

TAIPEI, June 11 (Reuters) - A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck off Taiwan's east coast on Wednesday, the island's Central Weather Administration said. The quake had a depth of 30.9 km, it added. There were no immediate reports of damage. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/magnitude-64-earthquake-hits-off-taiwans-east-coast-agency-says-2025-06-11/

2025-06-11 11:13

JOHANNESBURG, June 11 (Reuters) - The death toll from floods in South Africa's Eastern Cape province has risen to 49, the head of the province said on Wednesday. Parts of South Africa have been lashed by heavy rain and snow since the weekend, in a severe winter cold front that has disrupted transport and power networks. Sign up here. "The status has escalated to 49 (deaths)," Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane told a press conference. Earlier, a school bus was swept away by floods near Mthatha and a provincial safety official said eight bodies were recovered. Mabuyane said the report he had received said six people on the bus had been discovered dead and four were still missing. The vehicle had been carrying 13 schoolchildren and two adults. Flooding has become more common and severe in South Africa as the impacts of climate change are felt. A storm on the East Coast in April 2022 killed about 400 people and left thousands homeless. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/eight-bodies-recovered-after-south-african-school-bus-swept-away-by-floods-2025-06-11/

2025-06-11 11:02

LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - What matters in U.S. and global markets today I'm excited to announce that I'm now part of Reuters Open Interest (ROI) , opens new tab, an essential new source for data-driven, expert commentary on market and economic trends. You can find ROI on the Reuters website , opens new tab, and you can follow us on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X. , opens new tab Sign up here. After all the hype, this week's trade talks between the United States and China turned into something of a damp squib, producing a 'framework' for progress and little in the way of concrete details. Investor attention will now quickly switch to today's U.S. consumer price inflation report and two big auctions of long-term Treasury debt, including $39 billion of 10-year Treasury notes. I'll discuss this and the rest of today's market news below. Plus, today's column explains why Italy's surprising bond market revival challenges its reputation as a debt outlier and what this means for the rest of the G7. Today's Market Minute * U.S. and Chinese officials said on Tuesday they had agreed on a framework to get their trade truce back on track and remove China's export restrictions on rare earths, while offering little sign of a durable resolution to longstanding trade tensions. * Billionaire businessman Elon Musk said on Wednesday he regretted some of the posts he made last week about U.S. President Donald Trump as they had gone "too far". * Several U.S. cities braced for protests on Wednesday against Trump's sweeping immigration raids, as parts of the country's second largest city Los Angeles spent the night under curfew in an effort to quell five days of unrest. * Beijing's restrictions on rare earth exports have exposed the West's dependency on Chinese supplies of these esoteric metals and the magnets they help power. Part of the solution may be to simply use less of them, says ROI metals columnist Andy Home. * Seismic shifts in immigration are distorting the U.S. employment picture, making it harder for investors and policymakers to know exactly how much the labor market is actually slowing. Find out more in the latest from ROI markets columnist Jamie McGeever. U.S.-China framework underwhelms U.S. markets were underwhelmed by the outcome of the U.S.-China talks, with stock futures slipping back into the red early Wednesday. Chinese stocks (.CSI300) , opens new tab, (.HSI) , opens new tab, by contrast, took a more positive view of the London talks and advanced almost 1% to a three-week high. The CSI Rare Earth Index (.CSI930598) , opens new tab jumped nearly 4%, as Chinese rare earths magnet producer JL MAG Rare-Earth (300748.SZ) , opens new tab said it had obtained export licences to regions including the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia for products including magnets, motor rotors and components. There are currently few details available about the discussions between Washington and Beijing. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the framework puts "meat on the bones" of a stalled agreement in Geneva last month, with the aim of removing restrictions on Chinese exports of rare earths and magnets and some of the recent U.S. export restrictions "in a balanced way". But there was no additional information about the sky-high bilateral tariffs imposed - and paused - in recent months. Whatever agreements the two parties came to will now go back to their respective presidents for approval. In the background, JPMorgan lifted its end-of-year forecast for China's onshore yuan , citing moderating risks around the trade war and a global theme of so-called de-dollarization. The U.S. investment bank revised its dollar/yuan target to 7.15 from 7.30, seeing a "gentle downtrend" to 7.10 by mid-2026. There was better news on the trade front back in the Americas. The United States and Mexico are negotiating a deal to reduce or eliminate Trump's 50% steel tariffs on imports up to a certain volume, industry sources said late Tuesday. That appeared to underscore the rise in Mexico's peso this week to its best level since August last year. Meanwhile, MCSI's all-country stock index (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab managed to eke out another small gain to hit a new record high, which is impressive given the latest world economic forecasts. The World Bank slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by 0.4 percentage point to 2.3%, saying that higher tariffs and heightened uncertainty posed a "significant headwind". In its twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects report, the bank lowered its forecasts for nearly 70% of all economies, including the United States, China and Europe, as well as six emerging market regions. While the World Bank stopped short of forecasting a recession, it said growth this year would be the weakest outside of a recession since 2008. It forecast that GDP growth would average just 2.5% by 2027, the slowest pace in any decade since the 1960s. Speaking in Beijing, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said coercive trade policies will fail to resolve financial imbalances and that the risk of mutual damage is so great that all sides must weigh policy adjustments to resolve the tensions. Nevertheless, over in the UK, the blue chip FTSE100 (.FTSE) , opens new tab rose to within a whisker of record highs set in March as investors awaited UK finance minister Rachael Reeves' latest government spending review on Wednesday. Reeves will allocate more than 2 trillion pounds ($2.7 trillion) of public spending to different departments, outlining the government's priorities for the coming year. The FTSE was helped by sterling's swoon this week after softer data on wages and jobs raised expectations for at least two more Bank of England interest rate cuts this year. The pound remained on the backfoot on Wednesday, near its weakest level against the euro in a month. Elsewhere, Tesla shares climbed more than 2% ahead of the bell after its billionaire owner Elon Musk said he regretted some of the posts he made last week about President Trump. But domestic U.S. tensions simmered as several U.S. cities braced for protests against Trump's sweeping immigration raids. On the economic front, U.S. consumer prices are likely to have increased moderately in May given the relatively low price of gasoline, but tariffs probably started filtering through to other goods, potentially spurring underlying inflation pressures. Core CPI inflation is expected to have hit 0.3% last month, which would push up the annual core rate to 2.9% from 2.8% in April. Make sure to check out today's column, which looks at the remarkable drop in Italy's bond market risk premium versus Germany's. Chart of the day China holds a near monopoly on rare earth magnets, a crucial component in electric vehicle motors, and its decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets upended global supply chains. In May, Washington responded by halting shipments of semiconductor design software and chemicals and aviation equipment, revoking export licences that had been previously issued. Two days of talks in London between the two biggest economies attempted to break this logjam. Today's events to watch * U.S. May consumer price report (8:30 AM EDT), US May Federal budget (2:00 PM EDT) * UK finance minister Rachel Reeves to announce multi-year spending plan * U.S. Treasury auctions $39 billion of 10-year notes * U.S. corporate earnings: Oracle * European Central Bank board member Piero Cipollone and Irish central bank chief Gabriel Makhlouf speak Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles , opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/global-markets-view-usa-2025-06-11/