2025-10-01 06:57
SINGAPORE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) , opens new tab expects to cut the number of its employees in Singapore by 10% to 15% and move its office to the site of its Jurong plant from downtown by the end of 2027, in global restructuring efforts, the company said on Wednesday. The plans for Exxon's Singapore operations come after the U.S. major announced on Tuesday it will lay off 2,000 workers globally, particularly in Canada and across the European Union, as part of a long-term restructuring plan that will affect about 3% to 4% of the company's workforce. Sign up here. "We are making changes to how we work so we can improve our competitiveness in an ever-evolving landscape and position the business for future success," Exxon Singapore said in an e-mailed statement, adding that the changes will reshape and restructure the primarily office-based organization. "While detailed planning is still underway and organizational design is not yet complete, we anticipate this will result in estimated employee redundancies of 10%-15% by year-end 2027," it said. Exxon now has about 3,500 employees in Singapore, so the expected cuts could hit up to 500 workers, although the company declined to give a firm number. The company, which started this month production at new facilities at its Singapore refinery complex to produce base stocks from residue fuel, said it will continue to maintain its manufacturing presence in the city-state. Exxon operates two refining sites in Singapore, one at Pioneer Road on the mainland and the other on Jurong Island, with a combined crude processing capacity of 592,000 barrels per day. As part of the change, Exxon plans to move employees based at its Harbour Front offices to the Jurong Refinery at Pioneer Road in new expanded facilities by year-end 2027, it said. https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/exxon-expects-cut-singapore-staff-by-10-15-by-end-2027-2025-10-01/
2025-10-01 06:44
Oct 1 (Reuters) - British food ingredients maker Tate & Lyle Plc (TATE.L) , opens new tab, one of the world's biggest producers of sweeteners, warned on Wednesday that its annual profit and revenue would fall due to a slowdown in demand in the Americas, its key market. Tate & Lyle now expects its revenue and adjusted core profit for the year ending March 31, 2026, to decline by low-single digits. The company had previously guided for revenue growth of at least or just below 4% to 6% and profit growth ahead of sales. Sign up here. The ingredient supplier to Splenda, a non-sugar sweetener that goes into Diet Coke and other sugar-free drinks, said there was a slowdown in market demand, particularly in the last two months. The London-listed firm reported annual revenue of 2.12 billion pounds ($2.86 billion) in fiscal 2025, and adjusted core earnings of 446 million pounds. ($1 = 0.7431 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/sweetener-maker-tate-lyle-expects-annual-profit-drop-tepid-demand-2025-10-01/
2025-10-01 06:28
Gold hits record high of $3,858.18 an ounce US central bank expected to cut interest rates this month ADP national employment report due later today Oct 1 (Reuters) - Gold prices hit a record high on Wednesday, supported by safe-haven demand as the U.S. government shut down most operations, while growing expectations of a cut to U.S. interest rates added to the metal's appeal. Spot gold gained 0.8% to $3,886.97 an ounce by 1055 GMT after touching a record peak of $3,898.18. Sign up here. U.S. gold futures for December delivery jumped by 1.1% to $3,914.50. The dollar weakened (.DXY) , opens new tab against a basket of other leading currencies, making dollar-priced gold more affordable for overseas buyers. "The dollar is weakening on the back of expectations of an increasingly dovish Fed," said ActivTrades analyst Ricardo Evangelista, referring to the U.S. Federal Reserve. "This dynamic has accelerated after a failed attempt to pass a spending bill triggered a government shutdown, which could weigh on economic output." The U.S. government shutdown, triggered by the failure of Congress and the White House to reach a funding deal, could lead to the loss of thousands of federal jobs and could also delay the release of economic data including Friday's non-farm payrolls (NFP) report. Non-yielding gold, viewed as a safe-haven asset in times of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, thrives when interest rates are low. "Most likely the Fed doesn't really need the (NFP) report to make up its mind (on a cut to interest rates)," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke, adding that the central bank has room for more monetary easing. Investors are pricing in a 95% chance of a rate cut this month, the CME FedWatch Tool shows. The ADP national employment report due later in the day is expected to offer additional labour market insights. In other precious metals, spot silver gained 1.2% to a more than 14-year high of $47.22 an ounce, platinum rose 0.4% to $1,580.55 and palladium was steady at $1,259.68. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/gold-hits-record-high-us-shutdown-risks-rate-cut-bets-2025-10-01/
2025-10-01 06:24
LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The zinc market has just woken up to the fact that London Metal Exchange inventory is now so depleted it would cover less than a day's worth of global consumption. LME time-spreads have turned volatile and the cash premium over the three-month price flared out to $60 per metric ton last week, a level last exceeded in 2022. Sign up here. Everything suggests a market that is in acute supply deficit. Yet, the International Lead and Zinc Study Group estimates a global surplus of 72,000 tons over the first seven months of the year. The bad news for LME short position holders is that the excess metal appears to be in China. The good news is that a widening arbitrage window with the Shanghai market may facilitate a global rebalance. DISAPPEARING ZINC LME registered zinc stocks have collapsed from 230,000 tons to 40,850 tons since the beginning of the year. Available tonnage, excluding metal awaiting physical load-out, stands at just 30,625 tons, which is a drop in the 13.5-million-ton global zinc ocean. The LME off-warrant cupboard is equally bare at 12,087 tons of deliverable metal scattered through the warehouse network. The zinc market is no stranger to stocks churn, but this time around, much of what has been drawn out of LME warehouses appears to have left the system entirely. Exports of zinc from Singapore, which has held most of the LME inventory for the last couple of years, have been accelerating since the fourth quarter of 2024. The pace quickened to over 50,000 tons in August, bringing year-to-date exports to 240,000 tons. The metal has been shipped to a wide range of Asian destinations but the August tally also included 20,000 tons heading for the United States. Singapore's imports, meanwhile, have dropped to minimal levels, suggesting there is little left even in off-market storage that could be delivered against LME positions. SMELTER BOTTLENECK LME stocks appear to have been drawn down to fill gaps in the Western supply chain caused by a string of smelter problems. Although global mined zinc production rose by a robust 6.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, refined production fell by 2.1%, according to the International Lead and Zinc Study Group. The group attributed the decline to lower smelter output in Brazil, Kazakhstan and Japan, the latter due to the closure of Toho Zinc's (5707.T) , opens new tab Annaka plant. There have also been production curtailments at South Korea's Seokpo smelter, Nyrstar's (NYR.BR) , opens new tab Hobart plant in Australia and Glencore's (GLEN.L) , opens new tab Italian operations. Chinese smelters, by contrast, have been ramping up production since the second quarter of the year as treatment charges rise on the back of improved raw materials availability. The country's imports of zinc concentrates jumped by 43% year-on-year over January-August and are on track to break all previous annual records. Treatment charges for imported material turned negative toward the end of last year but have risen to $87.50 per ton, according to local data provider Shanghai Metal Market. Improved profitability has seen China's national output of refined production rise by 7% year-on-year through August, according to SMM. IMBALANCED MARKET The contrast between China and the rest of the world is currently a stark one in the zinc market. While LME stocks have been whittled away, Shanghai Futures Exchange inventory has been steadily rising. Deliverable stocks of 100,544 tons are up by 70,300 tons on the start of the year and have reached their highest level since August 2024. The imbalance between East and West is manifest in a widening pricing gap between Shanghai and London prices. Shanghai is currently trading at a spot discount of over $330 per ton to the LME, the widest gap since 2022-2023, when China last turned net exporter of refined zinc. Analysts at BNP Paribas argue that the arbitrage window needs to open a bit further to make exports profitable, but the direction of travel is clear and the bank expects "a growing export incentive over the next two to three months". Those running short positions on the LME won't care where the extra units come from but right now it looks as if it is Chinese producers who will be coming to their rescue. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/depleted-lme-zinc-stocks-may-need-chinese-booster-2025-10-01/
2025-10-01 06:09
LAGOS, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Nigerian President Bola Tinubu declared on Wednesday that the “worst is over” following a series of painful economic reforms that have left millions struggling with rising costs and deepening poverty. In a national address marking Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day, Tinubu defended his administration’s decision to scrap fuel subsidies and unify the foreign exchange rate - moves that triggered inflation and widespread public anger but, he said, were necessary to “reset” the economy. Sign up here. “Less than three years later, the seeds of those difficult but necessary decisions are bearing fruit,” Tinubu said. He cited second-quarter GDP growth of 4.23% - the fastest in four years - and a decline in inflation to 20.12% in August, the lowest in three years. Tinubu also pointed to five consecutive quarters of trade surpluses, a rebound in oil production to 1.68 million barrels per day, and a rise in external reserves to $42.03 billion - the highest since 2019. The president said the government had disbursed 330 billion naira ($222.90 million) to eight million vulnerable households under its social investment programme and was expanding infrastructure across rail, roads, airports, and seaports. However, critics questioned the transparency of the cash transfer scheme. Two weeks ago, the finance minister announced the disbursement, sparking calls for a public register of beneficiaries. Despite Tinubu’s upbeat tone, the IMF’s most recent Article IV assessment warned of persistently high inflation and worsening poverty. Over 129 million Nigerians - more than half the population - live below the poverty line, while funding cuts by international donors have forced the World Food Programme to shut down 150 nutrition centres in the conflict-hit northeast. “We are racing against time,” Tinubu said, even as critics including opposition party leader Peter Obi argue that his spending priorities have not matched the scale of the country’s humanitarian and economic challenges. The speech comes amid growing labour unrest over the recent dismissal of 800 workers at the privately owned Dangote Oil Refinery for unionising. The dispute has disrupted power supply and could threaten the oil production gains touted by Tinubu. ($1=1,480.4900 naira) https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigerias-president-says-worst-is-over-independence-day-amid-worsening-hardship-2025-10-01/
2025-10-01 06:07
Oct 1 (Reuters) - Rescuers worked through the night, battling havoc from severe weather and floods in Ukraine's southern city of Odesa and the surrounding district that killed nine people, a child among them, the state emergency service said on Wednesday. The workers helped evacuate people from water traps, shift cars, pump water from buildings, and trace a missing girl who was found in the early hours, the service said on the Telegram messaging app. Sign up here. It posted pictures of passengers being taken off a flooded bus and cars pulled from the water. "In just seven hours, almost two months’ worth of rain fell in Odesa," Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov said on Telegram earlier. "No stormwater drainage system can withstand such a load." A total of 362 people were rescued in the continuing effort, the emergency service added. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/ukraine-rescuers-battle-weather-havoc-that-kills-nine-odesa-2025-10-01/
