2025-10-28 11:54

Oct 28 (Reuters) - U.S. pork processor Smithfield Foods (SFD.O) , opens new tab posted a jump in third-quarter revenue and profit on Tuesday, benefiting from resilient demand for higher-priced packaged meats and fresh pork. Smithfield, the biggest pork processor in the U.S., also raised the midpoint of its annual profit forecast range, sending its shares up 6.7% before the bell. Sign up here. Its strong quarterly results reflect a steady market for protein-rich staples such as pork, meat cuts and sausages, as persistent inflation and still-high cost-of-living prompt consumers to prioritize home-cooked meals. "Despite persistent higher raw material costs and cautious consumer spending, our Packaged Meats segment posted the second-best third-quarter profit on record," CEO Shane Smith said. Smithfield has been working to rein in its expenses amid a spike in raw material costs and cautious consumer spending. Meanwhile, higher prices from President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs have further dampened sentiment. The Virginia-based company said in August it had resumed exports to China that had been crippled by import duties. In China, imports of U.S. pork face a 57% tariff, according to industry data. The meatpacker now expects annual adjusted operating profit in the range of $1.23 billion to $1.33 billion, compared with its prior forecast of $1.15 billion to $1.35 billion. It maintained its 2025 sales forecast of a low-to-mid-single-digit percentage rise from a year earlier. Operating profit in its largest packaged meats segment fell 5.7% in the third quarter, while profits in the fresh pork division posted a nearly 64% drop. The company's sales rose 12.4% to $3.75 billion in the quarter ended September 28. It earned quarterly profit of 58 cents per share on an adjusted basis from continuing operations, compared with 53 cents a year earlier. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/smithfield-foods-quarterly-sales-profit-rise-steady-demand-meat-2025-10-28/

2025-10-28 11:51

Half a million people evacuated in Cuba Hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans without power Parts of western Jamaica 'underwater,' minister says Southwest Jamaica was battered by Beryl last year KINGSTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Hurricane Melissa churned toward Cuba's second-largest city with the force of a powerful Category 4 storm on Tuesday, hours after making landfall in neighboring Jamaica as the strongest-ever cyclone on record to hit that Caribbean island nation. Melissa roared ashore near Jamaica's southwestern town of New Hope, packing sustained winds of up to 185 mph (295 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, well above the minimum 157 mph (252 kph) wind speed of a Category 5 storm, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale. Sign up here. In southwestern Jamaica, the parish of St. Elizabeth was left "underwater," an official said, with more than 500,000 residents without power. "The reports that we have had so far would include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential property, housing and commercial property as well, and damage to our road infrastructure," Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on CNN after the storm had passed. Holness said the government had not received any confirmed storm-related fatalities, but given the strength of the hurricane and the extent of the damage, "we are expecting that there would be some loss of life." Melissa's winds subsided to 145 mph (233 kph), the NHC said, as the storm drifted past the mountainous island, lashing highland communities vulnerable to landslides and flooding. The hurricane was forecast to curve to the northeast on a trajectory toward Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second-most populous city. "We should already be feeling its main influence this afternoon and evening," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a message published in state newspaper Granma, calling on citizens to heed evacuation orders. "There will be a lot of work to do. We know that this cyclone will cause significant damage." Cuban authorities said some 500,000 people were ordered to move to higher ground. In the Bahamas, next in Melissa's path to the northeast, the government ordered evacuations of residents in southern portions of that archipelago. Farther to the east, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic had faced days of torrential downpours leading to at least four deaths, authorities there said. Local media reported at least three deaths in Jamaica during storm preparations, and a disaster coordinator suffered a stroke in the onset of the storm and was rushed to hospital. Late Tuesday, many areas remained cut off. JAMAICA'S 'STORM OF THE CENTURY' No stranger to hurricanes, Jamaica had never before been known to take a direct hit from a Category 4 or 5 storm, and the government called for foreign aid even as it prepared for Melissa's arrival. Meteorologists at AccuWeather said Melissa ranked as the third most intense hurricane observed in the Caribbean after Wilma in 2005 and Gilbert in 1988 - the last major storm to make landfall in Jamaica. "It's a catastrophic situation," the World Meteorological Organization's tropical cyclone specialist Anne-Claire Fontan told a press briefing, warning of storm surges up to 4 meters high. "For Jamaica, it will be the storm of the century for sure." Colin Bogle, an adviser to aid group Mercy Corps in Portmore, near Jamaica's capital of Kingston, said he had heard a loud explosion in the morning before everything went dark. Sheltering with his grandmother, he heard relentless noise and saw trees violently tossed in the wind. "People are scared. Memories of Hurricane Gilbert run deep, and there is frustration that Jamaica continues to face the worst consequences of a climate crisis we did not cause," he said. Scientists warn that storms are intensifying faster with greater frequency as a result of warming ocean waters. Many Caribbean leaders have called on wealthy, heavy-polluting nations to provide reparations in the form of aid or debt relief to tropical island countries. Melissa's size and strength ballooned as it churned over unusually tepid Caribbean waters, but forecasters warned that its slow movement could prove particularly destructive. Food aid will be critical, Bogle said, as well as tools, vehicle parts and seeds for farmers. Like last year's devastating Hurricane Beryl, Melissa crossed over some of Jamaica's most productive agricultural zones. On Monday, Holness said the government had an emergency budget of $33 million and insurance and credit provisions for damage a little greater than Beryl. 'LIKE A ROARING LION' Melissa made landfall in southwestern Jamaica, near the parish border between Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth, one of the areas hardest-hit by Beryl. St. Elizabeth was submerged by flooding, local government minister Desmond McKenzie told a press briefing. Its only public hospital lost power and reported severe damage to one of its buildings. Several families were known to have been stranded in their homes, but rescue teams managed to reach one group that included four babies, McKenzie said. In Portland Cottage, some 150 km (94 miles) away from where Melissa made landfall, Collin Henry McDonald, 64, a retiree, told Reuters as the storm advanced that his community was seeing strong rain and winds, but his concrete roof was holding steady. "It's like a roaring lion. It's mad. Really mad," he said. Around 15,000 Jamaicans were in temporary shelters by late Tuesday, McKenzie said. The government had issued mandatory evacuation orders for 28,000 people, but many were reluctant to leave their homes. The International Federation of the Red Cross said up to 1.5 million people in Jamaica were expected to be directly affected by the storm. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/wmo-says-hurricane-melissa-will-be-jamaicas-worst-storm-this-century-2025-10-28/

2025-10-28 11:49

US excludes Rosneft Germany from Russia sanctions Investors assess impact of US sanctions on Russian oil firms Indian refiners halt new Russian oil orders, sources say OPEC+ considering modest output increase in December HOUSTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped about 2% on Tuesday, marking a third straight day of declines as investors considered the impact of U.S. sanctions against Russia's two biggest oil companies on global supply, along with a potential OPEC+ plan to raise output. Brent crude futures settled down $1.22, or 1.9%, to $64.40 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled down $1.16, or 1.9%, at $60.15. Sign up here. Brent and WTI last week registered their biggest weekly gains since June, reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to impose Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting major oil companies Lukoil (LKOH.MM) , opens new tab and Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab. The U.S. government has provided written assurances that the German business of Russia's Rosneft would be exempt from the sanctions because the assets are no longer under Russian control, Germany's economy minister said. "Trump giving Germany this waiver gives the impression that there could be more wiggle room on these sanctions, so this is taking away some of the immediate concerns that supplies could dramatically tighten. We definitely saw some risk-off (trading) today," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group. The effect of sanctions on oil-exporting countries will be limited because of surplus capacity, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, said on Tuesday. Following the U.S. sanctions, Russia's second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, said on Monday it would sell its international assets. This move is the most consequential action so far by a Russian company in the wake of Western sanctions over Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, which started in February 2022. Moscow-headquartered Lukoil accounts for around 2% of global oil output. INDIAN REFINERS HALT NEW ORDERS Indian refiners have not placed new orders for Russian oil purchases since the sanctions were imposed, as they await clarity from the government and suppliers, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, is leaning toward another modest output boost in December, four sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. Having curbed production for several years to support the oil market, the group started reversing those cuts in April. "This raises the larger question as to how much spare capacity OPEC+ really has left," Flynn said. The CEO of Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco said on Tuesday crude oil demand was strong even before sanctions were imposed on Rosneft and Lukoil, and that Chinese demand was still healthy. Rising OPEC+ output could help offset any curtailment to Russian barrels following U.S. sanctions, said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. Investors are mulling the prospect of a trade deal between the U.S. and China, the world's two biggest oil consumers, with Trump and President Xi Jinping due to meet on Thursday in South Korea. Beijing hopes Washington can meet it halfway to "prepare for high-level interactions" between the two countries, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call on Monday. U.S. crude, gasoline and distillate stocks fell last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Crude stocks fell by 4.02 million barrels in the week ended October 24, the sources said on condition of anonymity. Gasoline inventories fell by 6.35 million barrels, while distillate inventories fell by 4.36 million barrels from a week earlier, the sources said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-dips-opec-output-plans-offset-us-china-trade-optimism-2025-10-28/

2025-10-28 11:47

JAKARTA, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Indonesia has agreed to grant copper miner Amman Mineral International (AMMN.JK) , opens new tab a permit to export copper concentrate, a spokesperson for the energy ministry said on Tuesday, adding that the permit is now going through the administrative process. Indonesia banned exports of copper concentrate and other raw minerals from mid-2023 to boost the domestic metal processing industry. Sign up here. It let Amman continue exporting until December last year when it was expected to commission a new smelter. However, Amman requested another export permit after a fire broke out at the smelter in Indonesia's West Nusa Tenggara province this year. Indonesia allows exemptions to the export ban in cases of force majeure. "In principle, it (the export permit) has been approved in a limited cabinet meeting due to force majeure as the smelter caught fire," Dwi Anggia, the energy ministry spokesperson told Reuters. The energy ministry now needs to issue an export recommendation to the trade ministry, so they can issue the export permit, Anggia said. Amman did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia had said that the export permit might be valid for six months but gave no further details. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/indonesia-agrees-grant-amman-mineral-permit-export-copper-concentrate-energy-2025-10-28/

2025-10-28 11:45

Oct 28 (Reuters) - NextEra Energy (NEE.N) , opens new tab beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter adjusted profit on Tuesday, helped by strength in its renewables unit amid increased surging demand from data centers fueling the artificial intelligence boom. Power consumption is expected to hit record highs in 2025 and 2026, driven by a surge in demand from data centers needed to run artificial intelligence technologies, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Sign up here. Shares of the company were up 2.2% in premarket trading. Florida Power & Light (FPL), the company's regulated utility, posted a net income of $1.46 billion, up 13.2% from a year earlier. NextEra Energy Resources (NEER), which is NextEra's renewable arm, added about 3 gigawatts (GW) of new renewables and storage to its backlog in the quarter. The unit's total backlog now totals roughly 30 GW. NEER reported a net income of $1.28 billion in the third-quarter, compared with $1.22 billion a year earlier. On Monday, NextEra and Google (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab reached an agreement to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa which was shut five years ago. Due to it being a reliable source of constant, carbon-neutral energy, nuclear power has been gaining traction in the U.S. after decades of stagnation, driven by the tech industry's growing need for vast amounts of electricity to power AI. The U.S. nuclear regulator had also approved the license renewal for two units of NextEra's Point Beach plant in Wisconsin for another 20 years in September. NextEra reported quarterly revenue of $7.97 billion, compared with $7.57 billion in the year-ago quarter. The company earned $1.13 per share on an adjusted basis, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.02, according to data compiled by LSEG. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nextera-energy-beats-third-quarter-profit-estimates-2025-10-28/

2025-10-28 11:41

BAGHDAD, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Iraq has signed a $450 million investment deal with Excelerate Energy (EE.N) , opens new tab for the U.S. company to build the Gulf country's first floating storage regasification unit, as Baghdad seeks to attract more U.S. investment to its energy sector. The unit, capable of receiving, storing and regasifying liquefied natural gas, will be based at the port of Khor al-Zubair, with gas piped for integration into Iraq’s power grid, two Iraqi energy officials with knowledge of the agreement said. Sign up here. The Iraqi prime minister's office announced the deal in a statement on Tuesday, without providing details. FIVE-YEAR AGREEMENT Excelerate said in a separate statement that the total investment value of the project was estimated at around $450 million, including the cost of Excelerate's newest floating storage and regasification unit. The vessel, currently under construction in South Korea, is designed to handle up to 500 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d) of regasification capacity, Excelerate said. Under the five-year agreement, which includes extension options, Excelerate will provide both regasification services and LNG supply, with a minimum contracted offtake of 250 MMscf/d. Iraq is under pressure from Washington to diversify its energy sources and limit energy ties with Iran, from where gas exports to Iraq have been repeatedly disrupted due to U.S. sanctions and payment disputes. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iraq-signs-agreement-floating-natural-gas-platform-with-excelerate-energy-2025-10-28/