2024-09-04 19:17

Sept 4 (Reuters) - Teamsters members working at Marathon Petroleum's (MPC.N) , opens new tab Detroit refinery have gone on strike after months of pay- and safety-related negotiations with the company did not yield results, the company said on Wednesday. "We are fully prepared and have implemented plans to continue safely operating the facility," a Marathon spokesperson said in a statement. The company does not anticipate the strike will cause supply disruptions. Workers called for an economic strike following a nine-month negotiation and mediation with the company to reach a new labour agreement. The prior contract expired in January. Teamsters local 283 represents 273 workers at the Detroit refinery, 95% of whom authorised the strike, the union said. Marathon did not immediately say how many people it employed at the refinery. Marathon's Detroit refinery has a crude oil refining capacity of 140,000 barrels per day, processing sweet and heavy sour crude oils into products such as gasoline and distillates. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/marathons-detroit-refinery-workers-go-strike-union-says-2024-09-04/

2024-09-04 19:11

Orano to build uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee Project aims to reduce US dependence on Russian enriched uranium Plant to create over 300 jobs, officials say WASHINGTON/PARIS Sept 4 (Reuters) - France's state-owned nuclear fuel company Orano has selected Oak Ridge, Tennessee as a preferred site to build a multi-billion dollar U.S. uranium enrichment plant, Tennessee and Orano officials said on Wednesday. The move comes months after the administration of President Joe Biden signed legislation meant to eventually end dependence on Russia, the world's top supplier of enriched uranium. The law imposed a ban on imports of Russian enriched uranium and freed up to $2.7 billion in U.S. funding for domestic uranium projects. Jean-Luc Palayer, CEO and president of Orano USA, said the company was preparing the next required steps for the plant, including securing U.S. federal support, customer commitments, and obtaining a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and approval from Orano’s board. "But today we celebrate this major milestone towards bringing a new enrichment facility online to help meet our country’s need for an increased, secure domestic nuclear fuel supply," said Palayer. Orano USA is based in Bethesda, Maryland. The plant would create more than 300 jobs in Tennessee, officials said. The project is also supported by Tennessee's Nuclear Energy Fund, which has about $60 million. The officials did not say exactly how much the plant would cost to build. REDUCING RISK OF POTENTIAL HALT IN RUSSIAN SUPPLIES The company had reached advanced plans to build about a $2 billion enrichment plant in Idaho in the late 2000s but was forced to abandon it after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan led some countries to shut reactors or suspend projects. Orano said last year it would invest in increasing production capacity at its uranium enrichment facility in southern France, largely to meet demand from its U.S. clients. The expansion would help to reduce the risk of any halt in supplies from Russia's Rosatom, which provides about 30% of the West's enriched uranium, according to Orano. Orano mines raw uranium in Canada, Kazakhstan and Niger. Its enrichment facility in France accounts for 12% of the global capacity. Rosatom accounts for 43% while European group Urenco accounts for 31%. Other companies that could help build U.S. uranium supply are Centrus Energy (LEU.A) , opens new tab which launched a plant in Ohio late last year to produce high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel required for some next-generation reactors, Urenco, and Global Laser Enrichment, LLC. In July, the United States issued some waivers to its ban on Russian imports "to ensure there are no disruptions to the operation of US reactors as a result of the ban," the Energy Department said then. But the waivers end in 2028, after which the United States is expected to get enriched uranium from sources other than Russia. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/frances-orano-selects-tennessee-site-build-uranium-enrichment-plant-2024-09-04/

2024-09-04 18:29

Canadian dollar gains 0.3% against the greenback BoC cuts benchmark rate by 25 basis points Canada's trade balance swings to surplus in July Bond yields fall across the curve TORONTO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday after the Bank of Canada cut interest rates as expected and after the release of U.S. economic data that pressured the American currency. The loonie was trading 0.3% higher at 1.3515 to the U.S. dollar, or 73.99 U.S. cents, after moving in a range of 1.3501 to 1.3565. The Bank of Canada lowered its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 4.25%, and Governor Tiff Macklem, citing weak growth, said a larger cut could be in order if the economy needs a boost. "The CAD took the (rate) decision pretty much in its stride - reflecting the BoC's well-telegraphed easing intentions as well as the market's reaction to some soft U.S. data that dropped a little after the rate announcement," Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank, said in a note. The U.S. dollar (.DXY) , opens new tab fell against a basket of major currencies as U.S. job openings data for July pointed to a softening labor market, tilting the odds further in favor of larger interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Canada posted a trade surplus of C$684 million in July as imports fell faster than exports, with the trade balance swinging from a deficit in revised data for the previous month. The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, fell 1.3% to $69.40 a barrel as the U.S. data and recent lackluster data from China fed expectations for a weaker global economy. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suffered an unexpected blow when the small political party helping keep his minority Liberal government in power withdrew its support. Canadian bond yields fell across the curve, tracking moves in U.S. Treasuries. The 2-year was down 8.2 basis points at 3.163%, its lowest level since Aug. 2. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/c-gains-market-takes-boc-rate-cut-its-stride-2024-09-04/

2024-09-04 16:05

JPMorgan reckons dollar's dominance could last for decades Emerging market savers hoarding dollars a sign of confidence Fragmentation of global payments system key risk to hegemony LONDON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Suggestions that the dollar's dominance of the global financial system is ending are wide of the mark, JPMorgan said on Wednesday, despite some dramatic signs of change in commodity markets and certain trading blocs. China's rise and the use of economic sanctions on the likes of Russia mean there is a trend of diversification away from the dollar, JPMorgan said, but reasons for the U.S. currency's dominance remain "well-entrenched and structural in nature". It pointed to the rising amounts of dollar-denominated bank deposits in emerging markets, sovereign wealth fund behaviour and non-reserve foreign assets, saying it "more than offset" the dollar's secular decline in overall emerging market FX reserve holdings. The dollar's share in total world liabilities is still on the rise too thanks to record amounts of debt issuance and even talk of de-dollarization in China appeared "exaggerated" despite geopolitical rivalry. "Meaningful erosion of dollar dominance is likely to take decades, and the decline in the dollar's share of global trade and overall FX reserve holdings should not be confused with de-dollarization," the investment bank's report said. Areas where significant changes are happening include commodities markets where oil trading is increasingly done in non-USD currencies and demand from central banks and emerging market consumers for gold has boomed. The most "underappreciated risk to USD hegemony" was a possible fragmentation of the international payments system where the dollar has long been all powerful, the bank argued. China and India are the global leaders in terms of e-commerce innovation and activity whereas the U.S. and Western Europe's share is now less than 30%. Washington's use of tough financial sanctions means Russia, China and other countries are building alternatives to the SWIFT bank-to-bank system. Dozens of central banks are piloting new digital versions of their national currencies that could also make avoiding the U.S. banking system easier. "The genuine confidence of the private sector in the dollar as a store of value seems uncontested," JPMorgan's report said. "However, we are witnessing greater diversification and important shifts in cross-border transactions as a result of sanctions against Russia, China’s efforts to bolster usage of the renminbi, and geoeconomic fragmentation." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/reports-dollars-demise-are-greatly-exaggerated-jpmorgan-says-2024-09-04/

2024-09-04 15:42

Sept 4 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve policymakers are increasingly attentive to the U.S. labor market as they prepare for a policy-setting meeting later this month, when their assessment of job-market health will be key to how big an interest-rate cut they deliver. Analysts largely expect the Fed to stick to a quarter-point reduction, given that employers have continued to hire although at a slower pace than before, and with the unemployment rate on the rise but still at a relatively low 4.3%. But data on Wednesday showing job openings in July fell to the lowest level in three and a half years may add to the sense that the job market may be nearing a tipping point, and could build the case for a larger rate cut. The ratio of job openings to jobseekers - which Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other U.S. central bankers have said they track closely - is now below the pre-pandemic average. After the report, financial markets added to bets on an upsized rate cut at the Fed's Sept. 17-18 meeting. Rate-futures contracts now see a half-point cut as nearly as likely as a quarter-point cut. "The report suggests that the labor market is cooling, and that the pace of cooling may be accelerating," wrote ZipRecruiter Chief Economist Julia Pollak, who is among the minority of analysts who feel the Fed should have started cutting rates in July. Fed policymakers for their part have said they expect the next monthly jobs report, due out on Friday, and the August consumer price index data, to be published next week, to inform their judgment on their upcoming policy decision. The direction of their next move, however, is not in doubt. "We must not maintain a restrictive policy stance for too long," Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said in an essay released on the regional bank's website ahead of Wednesday's data. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fed-seen-more-likely-deliver-bigger-rate-cuts-job-openings-fall-2024-09-04/

2024-09-04 14:06

MOSCOW, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Analysts polled by Russia's central bank expect year-end inflation at 7.3%, the bank said on Wednesday, well above the 4% target and just shy of the 7.4% reading for 2023. Soaring inflation has forced the central bank, which will hold a rate-setting meeting on Sept. 13, to hike its key interest rate to 18%. The analysts forecast the average key rate for September-December at 19%, the bank said, suggesting another hike will come before the year is out. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/analysts-polled-by-russian-central-bank-forecast-73-year-end-inflation-2024-09-04/