2025-10-14 07:50

Magnet makers face longer license reviews, sources say Scrutiny is similar to April, at height of U.S.-China trade war China's rare earth exports dropped 31% in September BEIJING, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Chinese rare earth magnet companies have been facing tighter scrutiny on export license applications since September, sources say, even before Beijing's move last week to expand controls over the critical minerals used in magnets. The lengthier reviews magnet makers face raise questions about whether China, the top global supplier, is seeking to throttle back magnet shipments, contrary to its commitment to speed up exports in a trade truce with the U.S. in May, to further tighten its grip on the products essential in military and commercial technology. Sign up here. Starting in September obtaining an export license became harder, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. Applications are now being returned more often with requests for extra information, said one of the sources. Approvals are taking longer, although generally still within the commerce ministry's 45 business day deadline, said the other, but the scrutiny is now similar to April, at the height of the trade war, when lengthy waits for licenses caused magnet shortages that led to shutdowns at automotive factories. The sources declined to comment on exactly how much longer it is taking to obtain licenses or elaborate on the questions that are being asked. Both spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue in China. China's commerce ministry did not respond to a Reuters fax request for comment on license approvals. Data released on Monday showed China's rare earth exports dropped by 31% in September. It's unclear how much of that decline was driven by magnets because the data does not distinguish between products. "It's not surprising to see lower exports in September as getting a new license became increasingly difficult last month," said one of the sources. Exports of rare earth magnets fell sharply in April and May but grew in June, July and August. Data for September will be released later this month. China is the world's top supplier of rare earths, a group of 17 elements vital in products ranging from electric vehicles and wind turbines to military radars, and tightly controls the export of many types through its licensing system. Beijing expanded those controls last week, sparking anger in the U.S. where President Donald Trump promised more tariffs and retaliatory export bans, although he later struck a more conciliatory tone. There's been a rush of inquiries since the announcement from foreign clients trying to get orders shipped before the new rules take effect on November 8, according to both sources. Adam Dunnett, Secretary-General of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, said the number one concern for members was still the bottleneck of rare earth product applications waiting for approval. The chamber had seen both approvals and delays for its members over the past several weeks, he added. "We can't say that we've seen a decrease in the level of anxiety or concern," he said. "Some companies have had their wait extended further without any response as to why that is the case." https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-is-making-it-harder-get-rare-earth-magnet-export-licenses-sources-say-2025-10-14/

2025-10-14 07:23

Oct 14 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it had taken a final investment decision, together with Sunlink Energies and Resources Ltd, on the HI gas project offshore Nigeria, with production expected to start before the end of this decade. The project, once completed, will supply 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at peak production to Nigeria LNG, which produces and exports liquified natural gas (LNG) to global markets. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shell-sunlink-greenlight-lng-project-offshore-nigeria-2025-10-14/

2025-10-14 06:54

U.S. and China roll out tit-for-tat port fees IMF upwardly revises global economic outlook Gold sets record above $4,100 per ounce NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street closed mixed on Tuesday and gold touched a record high as investors weighed upbeat economic sentiment from the International Monetary Fund and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell against revived U.S.-China trade tensions. Stocks lost some momentum late in the session after U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media that he was considering ending some trade ties with China. Sign up here. The Dow reversed an early selloff to nab modest gains, while crude prices fell and benchmark U.S. Treasury yields eased. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq finished the session in negative territory. Powell said in a speech on Tuesday that the overall U.S. economy "may be on a somewhat firmer trajectory than expected," while also cautioning that "there is no risk-free path for policy as we navigate the tension between our employment and inflation goals." That echoed an IMF report which raised its global growth outlook as tariff shocks and financial conditions have proven more benign than expected. But the IMF warned that the trade war between the world's two largest economies could significantly slow output. "What we have here is a market that has one ear constantly listening to the trade war rhetoric and then we have the other ear, which is in tune to the fundamentals of the stock market," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. The U.S. and China began charging tit-for-tat port fees on Tuesday. Bilateral trade tensions, which have rattled world markets this year, flared up late last week after China tightened controls on its rare earth exports. Trump retaliated by threatening to hike tariffs on Chinese imports into the triple digits. BANK EARNINGS KICK OFF EARNINGS SEASON Upbeat quarterly results from high-profile financial firms including JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) , opens new tab, Goldman Sachs (GS.N) , opens new tab, Citigroup (C.N) , opens new tab and Wells Fargo (WFC.N) , opens new tab kicked off third-quarter earnings season. "If the banks are a guide, it will probably be a good earnings season," Cardillo added. "That's another supportive factor because to a certain degree, it validates the recent market highs." The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 202.88 points, or 0.44%, to 46,270.46, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab fell 10.41 points, or 0.16%, to 6,644.31 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab fell 172.91 points, or 0.76%, to 22,521.70. European stocks closed lower as renewed U.S.-China trade tensions soured market sentiment, as investors eyed developments in France, where the prime minister appeared set to hold off on a key pension overhaul. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab fell 2.45 points, or 0.25%, to 978.64. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab index fell 0.37%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index (.FTEU3) , opens new tab fell 7.41 points, or 0.33%. Treasury yields declined but were off earlier lows, following Powell's speech and the IMF's revised growth outlook. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 2.3 basis points to 4.028%, from 4.051% late on Friday. The 30-year bond yield fell 1.1 basis points to 4.6234% from 4.634% late on Friday. Oil prices dipped on trade war jitters and a report from the International Energy Agency which raised the prospect of increased supplies and dampening demand. U.S. crude fell 1.33% to settle at $58.70 per barrel, while Brent settled at $62.39 per barrel, down 1.47% on the day. The dollar eased while the Swiss franc and Japanese yen firmed due to heightened trade-driven risk. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.26% to 99.04, with the euro up 0.31% at $1.1604. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar weakened 0.37% to 151.71. Gold broke past $4,100, boosted by safe-haven demand arising from the latest salvo in the Washington-Beijing trade spat. Spot gold rose 0.75% to $4,140.97 an ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 0.77% to $4,140.20 an ounce. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-wrapup-1-2025-10-14/

2025-10-14 06:50

NEW DELHI, Oct 14 (Reuters) - India's wholesale price inflation (INWPI=ECI) , opens new tab in September eased to 0.13% year-on-year from 0.52% in the previous month, helped by a decline in food and fuel prices, government data showed on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had projected the wholesale price index to rise 0.5% year-on-year in September. Sign up here. KEY NUMBERS * Wholesale food prices in September fell 1.99%, compared with a 0.21% year-on-year growth in the prior month. * Vegetable prices in September declined 24.41%, compared with a drop of 14.18% year-on-year in August. * Prices of manufactured products rose 2.33% year-on-year, as against an increase of 2.55% recorded in August. * Fuel and power prices declined 2.58% year-on-year, compared with a 3.17% drop in the month-ago period. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-september-wholesale-price-inflation-eases-013-yy-2025-10-14/

2025-10-14 06:49

Brent crude futures, WTI both settle lower IEA raises forecast for global oil supply growth this year IEA also lowers demand growth forecast HOUSTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Tuesday, settling 1.5% lower as the International Energy Agency warned of a huge supply glut in 2026, and as trade tensionspersisted between the U.S. and China, the world's two biggest economies. Brent crude futures fell 93 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $62.39 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 1.3%, or 79 cents, at $58.70. Both contracts were at a five-month low. Sign up here. In the previous session, Brent settled 0.9% higher, and U.S. WTI closed up 1%. The world oil market faces an even bigger surplus next year of as much as 4 million barrels per day as OPEC+ producers and rivals lift output and demand remains sluggish, the International Energy Agency predicted. On Monday, a monthly report by he Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and allies including Russia was less bearish than the IEA's view. It said the oil market's supply shortfall would shrink in 2026, as the wider OPEC+ alliance proceeds with planned output increases. However, executives at oil majors and top trading houses said they expect global oil market to tighten in the medium to longer term, recovering from short-term weakness. "The latest tensions between the U.S. and China will also be a pressure point on crude as China’s economy could be in question if tensions stay elevated," said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial. UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said a risk-off mood had taken hold as trade tensions weigh on sentiment and the IEA report was bearish. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that President Donald Trumpremained committed to meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea this month. Washington and Beijing seek to defuse tensions over tariff threats and export controls. Last week, however, China expanded export controls on rare earths and Trump threatened 100% tariffs and software export curbs from November 1. Beijing also announced sanctions on Tuesday against five U.S.-linked subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, while the U.S. and China will begin charging additional port fees on ocean shipping firms. The Brent oil futures six-month spread traded at its smallest premium since early May, while the WTI spread was at its narrowest since January 2024. Narrowing backwardation, the market term for immediate deliveries fetching a premium over later deliveries, suggests traders are making less money from selling oil in the spot market because near-term supply is perceived to be ample. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-edges-up-us-china-de-escalate-trade-tensions-2025-10-14/

2025-10-14 06:23

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) , opens new tab expects its upstream production to be above last quarter's, the company said in a trading update on Tuesday ahead of results due on November 4, adding that its oil trading result was weak. It had previously guided for slightly lower upstream output than in the second quarter when it produced around 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. Sign up here. Brent crude oil prices averaged $69.13 per barrel in the third quarter, compared with $67.88 per barrel in the second quarter. BP expects the prices it received in its gas and low carbon business to take a $100 million hit compared with the previous three months. U.S. gas prices averaged $3.07 per million British thermal units in the third quarter, compared with $3.44 per mmBtu in the second quarter, BP said. BP guided for a rise in its refining indicator margin to $15.8 per barrel in the quarter, versus $11.9 per barrel in the previous quarter. It described its gas trading result as average. The higher refining margins are set to add $300 million to $400 million to BP's results, although some of that will be countered by compliance costs and an unplanned outage at its U.S. Whiting refinery, which was hit by flooding. BP's net debt is expected to be broadly flat compared with the previous quarter's $26 billion. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/bp-guides-higher-third-quarter-upstream-output-weaker-oil-trading-2025-10-14/