2025-04-03 06:13

EIA says it found widespread corruption in timber supply chain Loopholes in deforestation laws allow illegal logging to thrive Agency says problematic sites in Para state had concessions renewed Para authority says it will punish anyone responsible for irregularities April 3 (Reuters) - Almost 2,000 container ships carrying illegally harvested timber from the Brazilian Amazonian state that will host this year's U.N. climate summit has reached Europe and the U.S. in recent years, showed an investigative report by an environmental NGO. The report , opens new tab released on Thursday by London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) featured satellite imagery, records and interviews with industry sources to trace about 53,000 cubic meters of timber to four sites in the state of Para that had been sanctioned, were under embargo or had other irregularities such as illegal gold mining. Sign up here. Para capital Belem will host the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference - or COP30 - from November 10-21. "The findings suggest a pervasive culture where corrupt deals and the manipulation of legal frameworks are widespread," the EIA, founded in 1984, said in the report. Wrongdoing or negligence was detected at nearly every step of the supply chain, from permitting to harvesting to exporting, it said. Laws in the U.S., Europe and Brazil to stem illegal logging have existed for decades, but the many loopholes that allow the illicit industry to thrive underscores the difficulty of policing a continental forest. In several cases, the EIA said Para's environmental regulator SEMAS renewed or failed to remove concessions where infractions had been reported, including one case that was later embargoed by federal environmental regulator Ibama. In a response to Reuters' questions, SEMAS said it was "reinforcing its standards and mechanisms" to evaluate forestry management plans and was committed to conserving forest resources, noting it seized over 12,000 cubic meters of illegal timber and embargoed more than 500,000 hectares of land due to mining and deforestation from February 2023 to January 2025. "The cases mentioned in the report will be analyzed and ... if irregularities are found, those responsible will be punished," SEMAS said. ENDANGERED SPECIES The EIA said it linked 19 sawmills, 16 exporters and 30 U.S. and European importers to what it suspected was tainted timber, which included high-value and protected species like ipe and cumaru that are used for luxury decking and furniture but are also on the endangered list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. It said companies including U.S.-based Sabra International had previously been flagged as buying illegal timber. Sabra International and several of the importing and exporting companies did not immediately reply to Reuters questions about the allegations. The EIA also said it found myriad red flags in the timber supply chain. Some sites that claimed to produce timber showed little to no evidence of logging, indicating they were used for laundering wood extracted illegally, the agency said. Some other sites that supplied exported timber had been previously fined or subjected to an embargo for illegal logging or had been reported for illegal mining, which would require operations to cease under Brazilian law, the report showed. After harvesting, sourcing documents are easily bought and sold to launder the illegal timber and the EIA said it interviewed several industry sources who claimed to have bribed officials to ease permitting or pass inspections. One anonymous sawmill representative said documents to launder ipe are obtained easily from other concessions. "Everyone does it," one sawmill representative said when it came to buying and selling timber credits. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/illegal-luxury-timber-brazils-cop-state-makes-its-way-us-europe-investigation-2025-04-03/

2025-04-03 06:10

LITTLETON, Colorado, April 3 (Reuters) - Even in the dead of winter, Europe's solar farms have continued to expand their share of electricity production throughout the continent. Utility-scale solar farms generated 68 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity during the first quarter of 2025, 32% more than during the same months in 2024 and the highest for the first quarter period on record, according to data from Ember. Sign up here. Solar power production registered steep jumps across all major economies over January-March, with Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and France all posting solar output increases of over 25% from the same quarter last year. Steady increases in installed capacity have been the chief drivers of output growth, and indicate that even larger solar output levels can be expected over the coming six months when solar radiation levels peak in Europe. EXPANDING SCALE & SHARE Europe's largest solar power producer, Germany, generated 11% of its total utility electricity supplies from solar power during the opening quarter of 2025, up from an 8% share in 2024. The 12.5 TWh of electricity produced by Germany's solar parks during January-March was 27% more than during the same period of 2024, and 73% greater than what was produced during the first quarter of 2020. Looking forward, Germany's solar farms could generate more than 25% of the country's utility-supplied electricity during the next two quarters. In 2024 a record 25% of Germany's electricity came from solar during the July to September quarter, so the larger generation footprint in place in 2025 makes a 30% share target viable. In Spain, the January-March solar output total was up only 10% from the year before, but solar's share of the generation mix hit a new high for the quarter of 15%. With the sun-drenched summer still ahead, other solar share goals are now in sight, including the 29% solar-share record set during the second quarter of 2024. GROWTH MARKETS Further east, solar power's penetration into electricity generation mixes is more limited, but is still bound to hit new records this year. In Poland, where solar capacity jumped by 300% just between 2020 and 2023, solar power is on track to surpass 20% of total electricity supplies during the next two quarters. Poland is Europe's most coal-dependent economy, but the rapid growth in clean power supplies since 2020 has allowed Poland's utilities to make cuts to fossil-fired generation while lifting total electricity generation. Between 2020 and 2024, Poland's solar output jumped by 677%, wind power has risen by nearly 60%, and total clean power supplies have climbed by 80%. In response to that higher supply load, coal-fired electricity output has dropped by 15%, while total fossil fuel-fired production is down 7%. Further increases in clean output, driven mainly by new solar farms, will allow for additional cuts to coal use, and further reductions to power pollution. In the UK, solar power accounted for 4% of all utility-supplied electricity during the first quarter of 2025, but will likely generate more than 10% of total electricity during the next two quarters when daylight hours are longest. Like in Poland, higher clean power output in the United Kingdom has allowed utilities there to cut back on fossil fuel use, and in the case of the UK stop coal-fired production altogether in 2024. However, to ensure overall electricity supplies continue to rise in line with demand, more clean power generation capacity is widely expected, with solar power supplies growing faster than any other power source. That sets the stage for further growth in solar capacity and generation throughout Europe, and a higher share of solar power within regional electricity mixes. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a market analyst for Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/solar-output-marches-higher-across-europe-so-far-2025-maguire-2025-04-03/

2025-04-03 05:43

Trump unveils 10% base tariff on imports Spot gold hits record high of $3,167.57 an ounce Trump's policies to spur further central bank gold buying Silver falls over 4% April 3 (Reuters) - Gold prices took a breather on Thursday after surging to yet another all-time high following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of sweeping import tariffs, which drove investors to the safe-haven asset. Spot gold was down 1.4% to $3,090.00 at 1130 GMT amid some profit-taking, having hit a record peak of $3,167.57 earlier in the day. U.S. gold futures were down 1.7% to $3,111.40. Sign up here. Gold has continued to build on last year's rally, with prices rising 18% in 2025 as a combination of factors - including economic and geopolitical uncertainties, robust central bank purchases and increased flows into gold-backed exchange-traded funds - supported the metal. "Weaker trade, higher input costs and shrinking margins are badly hurting the stock market, while geopolitical mistrust is deepening," said Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault. "Such a gloomy outlook for economic growth offers the perfect backdrop for further gains in gold." Trump on Wednesday unveiled plans to slap a 10% tariff on most goods imported to the U.S., as well as much higher levies on dozens of rivals and allies alike. The far-reaching duties have sent global markets reeling amid concerns they could dampen economic growth and stoke inflation. Central banks are expected to help keep gold's stunning rally going this year, with buying aimed at further diversifying reserves away from the dollar. Analysts at ANZ said gold prices would push towards $3,200 over the next six months. But Trump's tariffs do not apply to certain goods, including copper, gold, energy and "certain minerals that are not available in the United States", a White House fact sheet showed. Gold stocks in COMEX warehouses in the U.S. have jumped in recent months on fears import tariffs might curb shipments. Spot silver slipped 4.7% to $32.44, its lowest since March 11. Since the introduction of a minimum 10% baseline tariff in countries importing semiconductors, where silver is used extensively, demand has become a concern, said Reliance Securities' senior analyst Jigar Trivedi. Platinum fell 2.6% to $957.60, and palladium lost 1.6% to $954.78. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/safe-haven-gold-hits-record-peak-trump-announces-sweeping-tariffs-2025-04-03/

2025-04-03 04:45

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Wayne Cole The jury is in, and it turns out investors really don't like a tariff-induced global trade war and likely recession - who knew? Wall St futures are down around 3%, as is the Nikkei, while European stock futures are off around 1.7%. Treasury yields hit multi-month lows, while the dollar index hit a near six-month low in pretty chaotic conditions. Sign up here. The reaction was of a piece with the high drama around the announcement, as President Donald Trump read off various levies on live TV from a big blue and yellow board. Headlining the list was 34% extra for China, 20% on the EU, 32% for Taiwan, 24% for Japan and 46% for Vietnam. The inclusion of high levies for Asia was clearly a shock to tech shares since it promises to raise costs sharply across their supply chains. Apple shares were down 7% after the bell. Almost all analysts, contrary to arguments from the White House, see the end of free trade as a shock to U.S. and global economic growth and will be revising up the risk of recession. That was clear in Fed funds futures which rose to price in 80 basis points of Fed easing this year, even though these tariffs will surely cause U.S. inflation to spike sharply. Analysts are talking of price rises of $6,000 to $10,000 on new autos alone. Fed officials like to say they will look through a one-off increase in the price level, but the pandemic shows what happens when firms realise they can lift prices and blame it on someone or something else. It's also not clear how permanent these tariff levels will be, with the White House saying it's open to horse trading with different countries. It's going to be hard for firms to plan long-term investments on such shifting sands. And then there's the coming countermeasures, as countries line up to defy Trump's new world order. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was just on the wires to pledge retaliation should negotiations fail. As students of history will know, it was the U.S. Smoot-Hawley tariffs in the early 1930s that put the "great" in the "Great Depression". Trying to keep up with the latest tariff news? Our new daily news digest offers a rundown of the top market-moving headlines impacting global trade. Sign up for Tariff Watch here. Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday: - EU producer prices, service PMIs - US trade data, ISM services, weekly jobless claims. Fed Vice Chair Jefferson and Governor Cook speak https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/global-markets-view-europe-2025-04-03/

2025-04-03 02:14

MUMBAI, April 3 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is poised to fall at open on Thursday, driven by the decline in Asian equity and currency markets after U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of broad-based tariffs. Trump slapped 26% tariffs on imports from India effective from April 9, a component of his comprehensive plan to place duties on all U.S. imports. Sign up here. The non-deliverable forward market indicated that the rupee will open at 85.70-85.75 to the U.S. dollar compared with 85.4975 in the previous session. If the "extent of the damage" on the rupee is "only" this much then it "will happily take it", a currency trader at a Mumbai-based bank said. "I would have expected a bigger up move (on dollar/rupee), past the 86 level," the trader said. Trump imposed a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from April 5 and higher duties on certain other countries including 34% on China and 20% on the European Union. "The average tariff rate appears higher than expected," ING Bank said in a note. "The worst-hit region by this tariff announcement is undoubtedly Asian EM," ING said, adding that Vietnam, Korea, India, Indonesia and Thailand will be subject to extra tariffs in the area of 25% to 45%. The offshore Chinese yuan dropped to a one-month low of 7.3482 versus the U.S. dollar, before recovering marginally to a current rate of 7.32. U.S. equity futures experienced a near 3% decline and Japanese equities registered similar losses. Indian equities were also set for a weak open. U.S. Treasury yields dropped amid worries over how the tariffs will impact growth for the world's biggest economy. KEY INDICATORS: ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 85.99; onshore one-month forward premium at 21.50 paise ** Dollar index down at 103.06 ** Brent crude futures down 2.2% at $73.3 per barrel ** Ten-year U.S. note yield drops to 4.08% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors sold a net $740.3mln worth of Indian shares on Apr. 1 https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-weaken-risk-aversion-asia-fx-fall-stoked-by-us-tariffs-2025-04-03/

2025-04-03 01:48

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Council of Economic Advisers Chair Stephen Miran told Fox Business on Wednesday that there will be short-term bumps caused by tariffs announced by Washington, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged other countries not to retaliate. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the U.S. and higher duties on dozens of other countries, including some of the United States' biggest trading partners, deepening a trade war that has rattled global markets and bewildered U.S. allies. Sign up here. Some trading partners are expected to respond with countermeasures of their own that could lead to dramatically higher prices for products in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. KEY QUOTES Miran was asked how concerned he was about short-term price increases. "Are there going to be short-term bumps as a result? Absolutely," Miran told Fox Business Network's "Kudlow" program. "But what the president is focused on is a long-term transformation and improvement in the durability, sustainability and fairness of the American economy with respect to the rest of the world," Miran added. Bessent urged other countries to not retaliate against U.S. measures. "Let's see where this goes, because if you retaliate, that's how we get escalation," he told CNN in an interview on Wednesday night. "Doing anything rash would be unwise," he said. Bessent was asked how he expected stock markets to react to the tariffs to which he replied: "I don't know." CONTEXT Outside economists have warned that tariffs could slow the global economy, raise the risk of recession, and increase living costs for the average U.S. family by thousands of dollars. Trump says they were a response to duties and other non-tariff barriers put on U.S. goods, arguing that the new levies will boost manufacturing jobs at home. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tariffs-cause-short-term-bumps-trump-economic-adviser-tells-fox-business-2025-04-03/