2025-09-03 06:55
Sept 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's competition watchdog CADE has opened an investigation into Anglo American's (AAL.L) , opens new tab plan to sell its nickel operations in the country to a unit of Hong Kong-listed MMG (1208.HK) , opens new tab for up to $500 million, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The probe follows a complaint from CoreX Holding, a global industrial group and direct competitor in the region, the report said, citing an unidentified source. Sign up here. "Based on a complaint received, an Administrative Procedure for Investigating an Act of Economic Concentration was instituted," the FT quoted CADE as saying. However, CADE noted that the launch of an investigation does not necessarily mean the deal will be blocked, the report added. Anglo declined to comment, while CoreX and Brazil's competition authority did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. In February, the London-listed miner agreed to sell its nickel business in Brazil. Anglo demerged its platinum business in May and in July said that its nickel and steelmaking coal assets were discontinued operations, with their sale agreed but not yet completed. The company has been selling or spinning off non-core assets to focus on copper and iron ore since bigger rival BHP's (BHP.AX) , opens new tab failed takeover attempt last year. Anglo is also considering options for its loss-making De Beers diamond unit, including a possible sale or listing. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/brazil-opens-probe-into-anglo-americans-500-million-nickel-business-sale-ft-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 06:52
SINGAPORE, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Oil prices eased in Asia on Wednesday but held near one-month highs on the back of new U.S. sanctions on a network of shipping companies and vessels, while traders looked ahead to an OPEC+ meeting over the weekend. Brent crude fell 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $68.98 a barrel by 0645 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 13 cents, or 0.2%, at $65.46 a barrel. Sign up here. The benchmarks settled up more than 1% in the previous session after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on a network of shipping companies and vessels led by an Iraqi-Kittitian businessman for smuggling Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil. Oil futures continue to be supported by the fresh sanctions which signal the possibility of tighter supply ahead, said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova. "Structural volatility persists, with sanctions on Iran and geopolitical flashpoints shaping the risk premium and keeping crude anchored near recent strength," said Sachdeva. The market was also waiting for the results of a meeting of eight members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies on September 7. Analysts say the group is unlikely to make further changes to production for now. "Geopolitical risks continue to influence oil price trends. The market is eyeing the upcoming OPEC meeting and remains on edge for further increases leading to an oversupply," said Emril Jamil, senior analyst at LSEG. Also supporting prices, U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, along with distillate and gasoline inventories, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Tuesday. Three analysts polled by Reuters ahead of weekly inventory data estimated on average that crude inventories fell by about 3.4 million barrels in the week to August 29. But soft economic data kept prices capped. U.S. manufacturing contracted for a sixth straight month as President Donald Trump's tariffs hit business confidence and economic activity, weighing on the demand outlook for oil. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-dips-holds-near-one-month-high-us-sanctions-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 06:45
Sept 3 (Reuters) - Netherlands-based Treasury, a bitcoin treasury company backed by the US billionaire Winklevoss twins, said on Wednesday it plans to list in Amsterdam via a reverse listing alongside Dutch investment firm MKB Nedsense (NEDSE.AS) , opens new tab. Treasury, which has raised 126 million euros ($147 million) via a private funding round led by Winklevoss Capital and Nakamoto Holdings, said in a statement it aims to attract bitcoin investors in a region where options remain limited. Sign up here. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Bitcoin treasury companies hold bitcoin reserves as their main asset instead of cash, like how companies traditionally hold dollars or euros. Unlike general crypto firms that trade many different digital coins, these companies focus only on accumulating and holding bitcoin long-term. This year, bitcoin has seen strong price appreciation to all time highs above $120,000 driven by renewed institutional interest and ETF inflows. Various crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) have been launched in Europe, but these funds' adoption has lagged far behind that of spot ETFs in the U.S. BY THE NUMBERS Treasury says it has already accumulated more than 1,000 bitcoin. The reverse listing transaction represents a 72% premium to MKBN's closing share price of 7 euro cents on July 11. The two companies said in a joint release they aim to end up with a post-consolidation share price of 2.10 euros. CONTEXT Dutch crypto firm Amdax announced plans in August to launch a bitcon treasury company called AMBTS on Euronext Amsterdam. The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler, founded crypto exchange Gemini and are prominent bitcoin advocates who helped legitimize cryptocurrency investing among institutions. WHAT'S NEXT MKBN will convene an extraordinary meeting of shareholders to approve the reverse listing. After completion, MKBN will be renamed to "Treasury N.V." and is expected to trade under the ticker "TRSR". ($1 = 0.8542 euros) https://www.reuters.com/business/winklevoss-twins-backed-bitcoin-treasury-firm-list-amsterdam-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 06:40
Sept 3 (Reuters) - Germany's chemical industry association said on Wednesday that production, sales, and prices in the sector declined in the second quarter, citing uncertainties regarding the U.S. tariff policy. The VCI association said pull-forward effects in business with the United States waned throughout the April-June period, as exports had been brought forward in anticipation of tariffs on goods from Europe. Sign up here. Overall production in the chemicals sector including pharmaceuticals fell 3.8% quarter-on-quarter, contrasting with the January-March quarterly increase of 6.7%. "Weak demand, declining sales, and production far below pre-crisis levels - this is the current reality in our industry and also in large parts of German industry," VCI managing director Wolfgang Grosse Entrup said in a statement. The sector, the third-largest industry in Europe's economic powerhouse Germany, can be seen as a bellwether for the broader economy as it produces materials used in sectors ranging from automotive and construction to agriculture and textiles. Pharmaceutical output fell by 5.6% compared with the previous quarter. On an annual comparison, overall quarterly production was down 3.1%, or 5.1% when pharmaceuticals were excluded, and revenue fell by 2.7% compared with the same period last year. The industry maintained its 2025 guidance for production volumes including pharmaceuticals to fall by 2% and industrial sales by 1%. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/german-chemical-lobby-vci-quarterly-sales-production-fall-amid-tariff-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 06:34
Commando forces airdropped to rescue the injured UN, aid groups appeal for food, shelter and medical supplies United Nations warns toll could rise with many trapped in rubble KABUL/MAZAR DARA, Afghanistan, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Afghanistan airdropped commandos on Wednesday to pull survivors from the rubble of homes in mountainous eastern areas ravaged by earthquakes this week that have killed 1,400, as it ramped up efforts to deliver food, shelter and medical supplies. The first earthquake of magnitude 6, one of Afghanistan's worst in recent years, unleashed widespread damage and destruction when it struck the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar around midnight on Sunday at a shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles). Sign up here. A second quake of magnitude 5.5 on Tuesday caused panic and interrupted rescue efforts as it sent rocks sliding down mountains and cut off roads to villages in remote areas. Dozens of commando forces were being airdropped at sites where helicopters cannnot land, to help carry the injured to safer ground, said Ehsanullah Ehsan, the head of disaster management in Kunar. "A camp has been set up where service and relief committees are coordinating supplies and emergency aid," he said. Two centres were also overseeing transfer of the injured, burial of the dead and the rescue of survivors, he added. Earlier, rescuers had used helicopters to ferry the wounded to hospital as they battled with mountainous terrain and harsh weather to reach quake-hit villages along the border with Pakistan, where the tremors flattened mudbrick homes. The toll stands at 1,411 deaths, 3,124 injuries and more than 5,400 destroyed homes, the Taliban administration said, as the United Nations has warned it could rise, with victims trapped under rubble. A Reuters journalist, who arrived in the area before Tuesday's tremors, saw every home had been damaged or destroyed, while people dug through rubble in the desperate search for those still trapped. The second earthquake levelled homes only partially damaged by the first, residents said. Resources for rescue and relief work are tight resources in the impoverished nation of 42 million people, which has received limited global help after the tragedy. The impact was worsened by flimsy or poorly-built homes made of dry masonry, stone and timber giving little protection from earthquakes, in ground left unstable by days of heavy rain, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The agency, which is pulling together the global disaster effort, called for emergency shelter, food assistance and sanitation facilities, along with drinking water, critical medical supplies and other items. The humanitarian response needed to urgently scale up, said an official of international group Médecins Sans Frontières that distributed trauma kits at two hospitals in the affected areas. "We saw many patients treated in the corridors and health workers in need of supplies," said Dr Fazal Hadi, its deputy medical coordinator in Afghanistan, adding that the hospitals had been working at full capacity even before the quake. Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/afghanistan-airdrops-commandos-rescue-earthquake-survivors-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 06:10
LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - China's net imports of refined copper dropped to a one-year low in July as the world's largest buyer found itself in competition with the U.S. for metal. The scramble to ship copper to the U.S. ahead of threatened tariffs, deferred for now, extended to China's bonded warehouse stocks. Sign up here. China "exported" 121,000 metric tons of copper to the U.S. in the first seven months of 2025. The shipments started after President Donald Trump announced a national security investigation into U.S. copper import dependency in February. However, since U.S. customs counted in only 15 tons of refined Chinese copper over the first half of 2025, it's clear that China's "exports" were actually re-exports of previously imported non-Chinese metal. The drain on bonded inventory has stimulated China's own import appetite but the country has had to diversify its supply base to compensate for the U.S. pull on refined copper. RECORD FLOWS China's outbound shipments of refined copper totaled 426,000 tons in the January-July period, already higher than any previous calendar year with the exception of last year's 458,000 tons. The mid-year export spike in 2024 was caused by a short squeeze on the CME contract which resulted in the U.S. premium over the London Metal Exchange (LME) price widening to what was then an unprecedented $1,100 per ton in May. Chinese smelters made hay from the global pricing disconnect by shipping metal to LME warehouses in Taiwan and South Korea. LME holdings of Chinese copper amounted to just 400 tons in February 2024. By August they had mushroomed to 164,000 tons. It was, with hindsight, a dry run for this year's even greater tariff disconnect. The CME premium to the LME stretched to almost $3,000 in July before collapsing in August, when the U.S. administration confirmed tariffs on copper products but pushed back a decision on refined copper until next year. Chinese smelters have once again shipped metal to the LME, where registered stocks of Chinese copper jumped from 25,000 tons to 98,000 tons over the course of July. The turnaround of metal in Chinese bonded warehouses has also been complemented by higher outright exports to Thailand and Vietnam. Neither country hosts LME warehouses, suggesting China has been plugging supply-chain gaps opened up by the scramble to get the right sort of copper for U.S. delivery. CHILEAN DIVERSION CME's list of deliverable brands is largely limited to domestic and South American brands, Chilean in particular. U.S. imports of Chilean copper exceeded 500,000 tons in the first half of the year, compared with 650,000 tons over calendar 2024. Much of that extra metal was stripped out of LME warehouses and Chinese bonded stocks as well as the physical supply chain. It's noticeable that China's imports of Chilean copper have cratered since the tariff trade started. Arrivals of Chilean metal fell below 20,000 tons in both June and July for the first time since 2006. The year-to-date tally of 203,000 tons is down by almost half on the same period of 2024. Chinese buyers have turned to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Russia and Zambia to compensate for the loss of Chilean copper. The Congo has emerged as China's main refined copper supplier over the last couple of years and that position has been cemented this year with cumulative imports of almost 820,000 tons in the January-July period. Russia has long been a major import source for Chinese buyers, but the pace of arrivals has accelerated significantly this year. Monthly imports of Russian copper are now regularly exceeding those from Chile and cumulative January-July arrivals of 269,000 tons were up by 123% on last year. China's imports of Zambian metal have also more than doubled to 95,000 tons as buyers look for alternative non-Chilean material. IMPORT APPETITE The scale of China's exports and re-exports masks the country's continued hunger for refined copper. Imports were 2.2 million tons in the first seven months of 2025, closely tracking last year's levels. Indeed, China's import appetite seems to have grown stronger over the last couple of months in reaction to the combination of lower port stocks and direct smelter sales both to the LME and other Asian consumers. The country is also facing a shortage of recyclable copper scrap, which means increased demand for refined metal. Imports of scrap fell by 1% in the January-July period relative to last year. The U.S. has historically been the largest supplier of scrap to China, but the trade has shrunk dramatically this year after China included copper scrap in its reciprocal tariffs on the U.S. China's year-to-date imports of U.S. scrap have slumped by 49% and July's count of 930 tons was the lowest monthly total in over 20 years. As with refined copper, Chinese buyers are diversifying by lifting imports from Europe. But this may be only a short-term solution, given that the European Union is actively considering export restrictions on recyclable metal. The geopolitical dislocation to the refined copper market may be close to running its course after the push-back of U.S. tariffs, but the disruption to global scrap flows may only just have started. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/china-feels-ripple-effect-us-copper-tariff-trade-2025-09-03/
