2024-09-14 12:45

BLANTYRE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Malawi recorded a 40% increase in sales of tobacco, its biggest export commodity, in the 2024 selling season, despite an El Nino-induced drought, the country's industry regulator said on Saturday. The Malawi Tobacco Commission (TC) said sales volumes had increased 10% during the season, which runs from April to August. Malawi is one of the biggest producers of burley tobacco in the world. The TC said in its final season report that sales from the leaf increased to $396.28 million, up from $283.76 the previous year. Over the same period, volumes increased to 133.1 million kilograms from 120.5 million kilograms. “This represents a substantial surge. The increase in sales volume, revenue and the average price per kilogram indicates a strong and positive performance compared to the previous year,” the TC said. Despite the drought, which hit most of Malawi's agricultural output, especially the staple food maize, the tobacco crop proved resilient, helping the country to profit from a surge in global demand. "Global demand is high due to consecutive calamitous weather impacts in major producing countries," said Limbani Kakhome, a spokesperson for Japan Tobacco Leaf, one of the commodity's top buying companies in Malawi. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/malawis-tobacco-revenue-up-40-despite-drought-2024-09-14/

2024-09-14 12:36

NEW DELHI, Sept 14 (Reuters) - State-run explorer Oil India (OILI.NS) , opens new tab Ltd hopes to operate its refinery in the northeastern state of Assam at an expanded capacity of 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the fiscal year to March 2027, Chairman Ranjit Rath said on Saturday. Oil India's subsidiary Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) is expanding the capacity of the plant from the current 60,000 bpd and laying a crude oil pipeline connecting the refinery to Paradip Port in eastern state of Odisha, Rath said. "Both the projects are on schedule and are expected to be commissioned in December 2025," he told a press conference. The company would import about 110,000 bpd of crude for processing at the expanded refinery, he said. Oil India plans to invest 250 billion rupees ($3 billion) by 2030 across various projects, including clean energy assets. NRL is also setting up a 50,000 tons per year biorefinery to produce ethanol using bamboo as feedstock. Rath said ethanol production from the Assam biorefinery is expected to start by the end of September. As well as supplying the northeast of the country with fuel, NRL also provides diesel to Bangladesh through a pipeline with a 1 million tons per year capacity. Rath said there was no disruption to Bangladesh diesel supplies despite a political crisis in the state. "Letter of credit is in place for supplies to Bangladesh," he said. Oil India has a stake in two upstream projects in Russia-Vankorneft and Tass-Yuryakh. Its dividend of $250 million is in Moscow branch of an Indian Bank and is yet to be repatriated, he said. Other Indian companies also hold stakes in the two projects. About $600 billion in total dividends is yet to be received by the companies, he added. ($1 = 83.8800 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/oil-india-aims-expand-numaligarh-refinery-capacity-by-2027-chairman-2024-09-14/

2024-09-14 11:33

BEIJING, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Beijing firmly opposes U.S. tariff hikes on Chinese imports, China's commerce ministry said in a statement on Saturday, urging the U.S. to immediately correct its "wrongdoings" and lift all tariffs imposed on Chinese goods. "China will take necessary measures to resolutely defend the interests of Chinese companies," the statement said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/china-opposes-us-tariff-hikes-vows-steps-defend-its-firms-interests-2024-09-14/

2024-09-14 11:00

Thousands of homes damaged in Romania Power cuts hit households in Romania, Czech Republic Residents evacuated in historic Polish town Situation worsening in Lower Austria, says chancellor VISNOVA, Czech Republic, Sept 14 (Reuters) - At least four people died and thousands of homes were damaged by flooding in eastern Romania on Saturday, officials said, as surging river levels put authorities on alert in much of central and eastern Europe following days of torrential rain. Tens of thousands of households were left without power in Romania and the Czech Republic, where more rainfall is forecast in the coming days. Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, southern Germany and parts of Austria are also expected to see more heavy rain. Residents of some towns along the Czech-Polish border were evacuated as rivers rose past alert levels while the Czech capital, Prague, which suffered catastrophic floods in 2002, put preventative anti-flood measures in place. In Romania, flooding affected eight counties, the country's emergency unit said, and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu visited hard-hit Galati county, where the four people were found dead, about 5,000 homes were damaged and 25,000 were without power. Television images from the area showed streets flooded with muddy water, silt and debris as rescuers led residents to safety. "The priority is obviously to save lives. At this moment we have all the necessary logistics to intervene quickly," Ciolacu said. EVACUATIONS, BLACKOUTS In the Czech Republic, northern and northeastern areas bore the brunt of the deluge and 51,000 households had their electricity supply cut off, the CTK news agency said. Forecasters warned that some parts of the country could see more than a third of average annual rainfall by Sunday, with Environment Minister Petr Hladik urging people in the worst-hit areas to prepare to leave their homes. In the village of Visnova, 140 km (87 miles) north of Prague, local resident Roman Christof said his cottage had escaped damage because it was built on higher land. Others were less fortunate, he added. "I feel sorry for the neighbours," he said as he surveyed the floodwaters. In Prague, a city of more than 1.3 million people that sits on the banks of the Vltava river spanned by the picturesque 14th century Charles Bridge, flood barriers were put in place. The city heavily invested into preventive measures after the 2002 floods, which swept into the subway system and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. Prague Zoo, which is located along the Vltava, was closed to visitors and Czech Railways said services on dozens of routes were disrupted. In the country's second-biggest city, Brno, a hospital evacuated patients as a precaution. 'CRITICAL NIGHT' AHEAD In Glucholazy, a historic town in southwestern Poland near the Czech border, firefighters piled hundreds of sandbags alongside a swollen river and some residents were evacuated. Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said weather forecasts looked unfavourable, with very heavy rainfall to fall around the Czech border area over the next 24 hours, feeding rivers into Poland. "We are facing a critical night, full mobilisation is required," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on the X platform. Officials in neighbouring Slovakia warned of the threat of flooding in the capital, Bratislava, from the swollen Danube, while Hungary expects the river to near record-high levels in the coming days. In Austria, emergency services were working with district governors and municipalities to prepare for evacuations. Chancellor Karl Nehammer said all federal states were affected and the situation was deteriorating, particularly in the northeastern state of Lower Austria. "The coming days will still be extremely difficult and challenging for the affected population and the emergency services," Nehammer said on X. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/least-four-die-romania-floods-rain-batters-central-europe-2024-09-14/

2024-09-14 10:47

Import tax on edible oils raised by 20 percentage points Crude edible oils to attract 27.5% tax vs 5.5% earlier Refined oils to attract 35.75% tax vs 13.75% earlier MUMBAI, Sept 13 (Reuters) - India has raised the basic import tax on crude and refined edible oils by 20 percentage points, the government said on Friday, as the world's biggest edible oil importer tries to help protect farmers reeling from lower oilseed prices The move could lift edible oil prices and dampen demand and subsequently reduce overseas purchases of palm oil , soyoil and sunflower oil. After the duty hike announcement, Chicago Board of Trade soyoil extended losses and fell more than 2%. New Delhi on Friday imposed a 20% basic customs duty on crude palm oil, crude soyoil and crude sunflower oil from Sept. 14, the notification said. It will effectively increase the total import duty on the three oils to 27.5% from 5.5% as they are also subject to India's Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess and Social Welfare Surcharge. Imports of refined palm oil, refined soyoil and refined sunflower oil will attract 35.75% import duty against the earlier duty of 13.75%. Reuters reported in late August that India was considering an increase in import taxes on vegetable oils to help soybean growers ahead of regional elections due in Maharashtra later this year. "After a long time, the government has been attempting to balance the interests of both consumers and farmers," said Sandeep Bajoria, CEO of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage. The move has increased the likelihood of farmers receiving the minimum support price set by the government for their soybean and rapeseed harvests, he said. Domestic soybean prices are around 4,600 rupees ($54.84) per 100 kg, lower than the state-fixed support price of 4,892 rupees. India meets more than 70% of its vegetable oil demand through imports. It buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine. "India's edible oil imports consist of more than 50% palm oil, so it's obvious that the Indian duty hike is going to have a negative impact on palm oil prices next week," said a New Delhi-based dealer with a global trade house. ($1 = 83.8800 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/india-raises-import-tax-edible-oils-government-order-says-2024-09-13/

2024-09-14 10:05

SURUCUCU, Brazil, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Brazil has almost squashed the illegal gold rush that led thousands of wildcat miners into the Yanomami reservation in the Amazon rainforest and caused a humanitarian crisis of disease and malnutrition, the man in charge of operations said. The Yanomami, South America's largest Indigenous group living in isolation, have returned to a normal way of life, cultivating crops and hunting game, Nilton Tubino told Reuters in an interview on Friday. Tubino runs the government office set up by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to coordinate action by police and military forces, environmental agents and health workers on the reservation the size of Portugal in the remote Amazon, where 27,000 Yanomami live. "We are seeing many of them bathing in the rivers and out hunting again, and clearings being planted for food," he said. In hundreds of operations since March, army and navy troops, backed up by environmental and Indigenous protection agencies, have destroyed mining camps and gold prospects. They have dynamited 42 clandestine airstrips used by the miners in the rainforest, set fire to 18 aircraft, seized 92,000 liters of diesel, sunk 45 dredging barges, destroyed 700 pumps, and dismantled 90 Starlink dishes that allowed the miners to warn each other about enforcement teams, Tubino said. A radar has been set up in the reservation to monitor clandestine planes. Tubino said deaths from malaria brought by the miners were down, and malnutrition had been controlled with government food parcels. The government has reopened medical outposts and is planning to build a hospital in Surucucu, a remote village near the border with Venezuela. A Reuters photographer in Surucucu earlier this month saw evidence of illegal miners inside the reservation still, but with the situation improved from last year. Junior Hekurari, head of the Yanomami health council Condisi, said the government had evicted the miners and overcome the health crisis, but that the mining had affected their ability to obtain food, with river waters polluted by mercury. "The waters are poisoned and there are no fish," he said. "Our people believe the earth has been contaminated and that is why the crops are not growing." Shortly after taking office, Lula launched a massive enforcement operation in February 2023 to evict some 25,000 gold miners from the Yanomami territory. With backing from the armed forces, the government action succeeded in expelling 80% of the miners. But once the military withdrew, miners started to return, joining others who had hidden in the forest. Tubino said the number of miners remaining is unknown, but this year's operations had significantly reduced their presence and eliminated more than half the gold prospecting areas. Work is still needed to shut down the supply line that keeps the miners in business, from fuel and food to the buying of their gold nuggets, Tubino added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-says-it-has-nearly-cleared-gold-miners-amazon-yanomami-reservation-2024-09-14/