2024-09-03 12:31
TORONTO, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Insured losses have surged in the past decade as climate change in Canada sparks wildfires, intense hailstorms and thunderstorms with severe flooding in major cities. Insured losses from natural disasters averaged C$2.2 billion ($1.63 billion) a year over the last decade, far exceeding the previous decade's average of C$632 million, according to the IBC, which expects escalating losses to continue. The wildfire in Canadian tourist destination Jasper this year surpassed C$880 million in insured damages, according to initial estimates, IBC said last week. Here is a list of 10 of the worst annual losses recorded in Canada due to weather events. Source: Insurance Bureau of Canada, CatIQ Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/canadas-10-worst-natural-disasters-totaled-c30-billion-annual-losses-2024-09-03/
2024-09-03 12:07
MADRID, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Spain's industry ministry has granted a subsidy worth 150 million euros ($165.6 million) to boost a green hydrogen project by Cobra, a subsidiary of France's Vinci (SGEF.PA) , opens new tab, Industry Minister Jordi Hereu said on Tuesday. ($1 = 0.9057 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/spain-grants-165-million-subsidy-vincis-cobra-green-hydrogen-project-2024-09-03/
2024-09-03 12:00
LAUNCESTON, Australia, Sept 3 (Reuters) - China's iron ore futures suffered their worst one-day price drop for almost two years on Monday, but the evaporating optimism in the market has yet to show up in imports of the key raw material for making steel. Contracts on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended day trading on Monday at 723.5 yuan ($101.83) a metric ton, 4.83% down from the previous close and the largest daily loss since Oct. 31, 2022. The weakness was mirrored by Singapore Exchange futures , which closed at $96.60 a ton, down 2.13% from the prior close and the lowest since Aug. 16. The catalyst for Monday's weakness was a raft of data that indicated that the world's second-biggest economy is struggling to gain momentum. The private Caixin/S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 50.4 in August from 49.8 the previous month, beating analysts' forecasts in a Reuters poll of 50.0 and moving above the 50-level that demarcates expansion from contraction. While this may initially appear like a solid outcome, the detail was less bullish with the key sub-index for new exports orders falling for the first time in eight months and at the fastest pace since November last year. The Caixin PMI covers smaller and more export-orientated firms, so weakness in this measure is likely more significant than the strength in the rest of the survey. The official PMI was also downbeat, with the August reading coming in at 49.1, down from July's 49.4, and falling for a sixth consecutive month. The National Bureau of Statistics PMI focuses more on large and mainly state-controlled corporations and includes the key steel sector. Further bad news for the steel industry came on Sunday, with the average price for new homes across 100 cities nudging up 0.11% in August from July, slowing from the previous month's 0.13% gain, according to data from property researcher China Index Academy. The property sector has so far failed to respond to a series of stimulus measures from Beijing, and remains a drag on the overall economy. ROBUST IMPORTS Against this backdrop its perhaps no surprise that iron ore prices are struggling. But what is perhaps surprising is how strong China's iron ore imports have been. China is the world's biggest buyer of seaborne iron ore, accounting for about 75% of the global total. Official customs data for August will be released next week, but data from commodity analysts Kpler points to imports being the strongest since January. August imports are estimated by Kpler at 109.1 million tons, which would be up from the customs figure of 102.8 million and the most since January's 111.9 million. For the first seven months of the year iron ore imports rose 6.7%, and if August's official numbers are in line with the Kpler estimate, this pace of growth is likely to increase. Part of the explanation for the increase in iron ore imports this year has been that inventories needed to be rebuilt, after dropping to the lowest in seven years in October of last year. But since then more than 45 million tons have been added to port stockpiles monitored by consultants SteelHome , taking the total to 150.8 million as of last week. This is close to the 27-month high of 151.8 million from late July and is a sign that inventories are at a comfortable level, and may be even too high given steel production is subdued. In addition to re-stocking driving iron ore imports, it's also likely that optimism over the stimulus measures being put in pace encouraged some speculative buying of cargoes, especially as the iron ore price has trended weaker since early July. But that optimism is also likely to have been dented by the ongoing soft data, leaving lower prices as the sole reason for China to import more iron ore than it needs to meet its current and likely future steel production. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/fading-china-optimism-hits-iron-ore-prices-not-yet-volumes-russell-2024-09-03/
2024-09-03 11:59
UN nuclear agency head to visit Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant He visited Russia's Kursk nuclear plant last week IAEA wants to prevent a wartime nuclear accident KYIV, Sept 3 (Reuters) - U.N. nuclear agency chief Rafael Grossi met Ukrainian energy officials on Tuesday before a planned visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, part of efforts to prevent a wartime nuclear catastrophe. Grossi, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrived in Ukraine a week after visiting the Kursk nuclear power station in Russia and warning of the danger of a nuclear accident there. On his latest visit to Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022, Grossi met Energy Minister German Galushchenko, as well as Petro Kotin, head of state nuclear power company Energoatom, and Oleh Korikov, acting head of Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate. The IAEA was "fully committed to safety & security of (Ukrainian) nuclear sites, with (a) presence at each," Grossi wrote on X alongside photos showing him and Ukrainian officials holding talks. He said they were "exchanging (views) on our support to Ukraine’s NPPs (nuclear power plants) ahead of my ZNPP visit." Grossi said on X on Monday that he was on his way to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) "to continue our assistance & help prevent a nuclear accident." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would meet Grossi after the IAEA chief visits the country's nuclear plants. The ZNPP in southeastern Ukraine, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, fell to Russian troops soon after Moscow's full-scale invasion and is not operating now. Both sides have frequently accused each other of shelling the plant. Moscow and Kyiv both deny the accusations. SAFETY CONCERNS Zelenskiy and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Monday visited the city of Zaporizhzhia, which lies across the Dnipro River to the northeast of the plant. Zelenskiy also said that at this stage of the war, it is not possible for Ukraine to take back control of the plant. "It is safer for Ukraine to control the Zaporizhzhia plant, but so far, from the point of view of the battlefield, I do not see such possibilities, and those that probably exist, they are dangerous," Zelenskiy said. Russian news agencies reported on Monday that a high-voltage power supply line at the plant had automatically disconnected, but the plant's needs are supplied by another line. There was no reason given for the automatic disconnection. Ukraine said Russian attacks had damaged one of the two external overhead lines connecting the plant to the Ukrainian power grid on Monday. Russia did not immediately comment on this assertion. Russia says the Kursk nuclear plant visited by Grossi last week has been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian forces that are just 40 km (25 miles) away since Ukraine carved out a slice of Russian territory in a cross-border attack this month. Grossi said after visiting the Kursk nuclear plant that it was extremely fragile because it had no protective dome and that the "danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has emerged near here." Ukraine's foreign ministry on Thursday denounced what it said were Russian efforts to "accuse Ukraine of alleged provocations against nuclear safety". It said Russia had intensified a "disinformation campaign to distract attention from its own criminal acts at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant." In a statement, it described such accusations as "cynical" following attacks on energy infrastructure that forced Ukraine to disconnect several nuclear power units from the grid last week. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/iaea-chief-meets-ukrainian-energy-chiefs-way-nuclear-plant-2024-09-03/
2024-09-03 11:47
LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Moody's Ratings upgraded its outlook on global reinsurers to positive from stable owing to reinsurers' higher prices and more restrictive policies, along with healthy investment income, the ratings agency said in a statement on Tuesday. Reinsurers insure the insurers and have raised their rates and excluded some business in recent years in response to sharp losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and natural catastrophes. Higher interest rates have also boosted reinsurers' investment income. "We expect property reinsurance pricing to remain favourable," said Brandan Holmes, senior credit officer at Moody’s. "Solid balance sheets will help reinsurers withstand potentially high catastrophe losses." Reinsurance buyers expect property reinsurance price hikes to slow next year, however, following years of "significant" rate increases, according to a Moody's annual survey of global property and casualty reinsurers. Reinsurers meet for their annual conference in Monte Carlo next week, to hammer out deals with insurers for the key Jan 1 renewal date. S&P Global said on Tuesday it retained its stable outlook for global reinsurers. The global reinsurance industry earned its cost of capital in 2023 for the first time in four years, and the ratings agency said it expected the industry to do so again in 2024 and 2025. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/moodys-upgrades-outlook-global-reinsurers-positive-stable-2024-09-03/
2024-09-03 11:37
Improved power availability helps bolster growth Bottlenecks at ports, on railways serve as drag Pension reform could boost consumption ahead 'Too early' to assess impact of new govt on growth PRETORIA, Sept 3 (Reuters) - South Africa's economic growth picked up in the second quarter, supported by higher consumer spending and power availability, but output declines in agriculture, mining and transport meant growth was slightly weaker than expected. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 0.4% in quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted terms in April to June (ZAGDPN=ECI) , opens new tab, below the 0.5% growth forecast by economists polled by Reuters but above the first quarter's flat output. South Africa's top statistics official said it was too early to say whether the coalition government that emerged after May's election had contributed to the improved second-quarter performance, since President Cyril Ramaphosa was only sworn in for a second term in mid-June. "Even in the next quarter, it would be too early to tell about the effects of the government of national unity," Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke told reporters. Seven of the 10 sectors tracked by Statistics South Africa registered growth , opens new tab in the latest three-month period, as the economy benefited from an unbroken stretch without power cuts for the first time in years. But economists said lingering bottlenecks at ports and on the freight rail network and weak global demand remained a drag. "It's a big step forward to not have power disruptions, but (we're) not there yet in terms of all the other constraints," said Lisette IJssel de Schepper, chief economist at the Bureau for Economic Research (BER). After the marked improvement in power utility Eskom's performance this year, inefficiencies at state logistics group Transnet are among the biggest unresolved issues. FASTER GROWTH AHEAD? South African factory activity also slumped in August, indicating that business conditions remain highly volatile in key sectors. IJssel de Schepper said growth could start to pick up from the fourth quarter. One reason is a government pension policy reform that came into effect on Sept. 1 and will allow fund members to withdraw some of their savings before retirement age. The central bank estimates withdrawals could be between 40 billion rand and 100 billion rand ($2.2 billion and $5.6 billion) by the end of the year, boosting household consumption spending and GDP growth. Another factor is that the central bank is expected to start cutting interest rates from this month for the first time in four years. The BER forecasts 2.2% growth in 2025, up from 1% this year, but it says for that to be sustained there needs to be progress with reforms to enhance the country's growth potential. ($1 = 17.9700 rand) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-african-economy-expands-04-qq-q2-stats-agency-says-2024-09-03/
