2024-09-28 10:33

FRANKFURT, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp's (TKAG.DE) , opens new tab 27,000 steel workers must brace for deep cuts, the new head of the conglomerate's steel division told a German newspaper, setting the stage for significant layoffs. "Tough cuts are necessary. We have to become more profitable," Dennis Grimm, spokesperson for Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe's (TKSE) executive board, told Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) in an interview. "The current market situation has deteriorated again in recent months, and unfortunately there is no recovery in sight." TKSE is emerging from a major clash with its parent over funds that are required in a proposed 50:50 joint venture structure with Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who already owns a 20% stake in the steel business. Grimm said that currently a new business plan was being developed for TKSE and it was unclear how many jobs could have to go. "We can't yet put an exact figure on how many people we will employ once the business plan has been finalised and negotiations with the employee representatives have been completed," Grimm told WAZ. "But it will be fewer than today." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/thyssenkrupp-steel-head-prepares-staff-tough-cuts-2024-09-28/

2024-09-28 08:57

DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Tanzania's mining regulator has ordered all mining firms and traders exporting gold to allocate at least 20% of the commodity for sale to the central bank to bolster the bank's move to diversify its foreign reserves. The central Bank of Tanzania (BoT) began buying gold from local traders and miners in the last financial year that ended in June to boost its reserves amid depreciation pressure on the local currency, the shilling. In the 12 months to June, the central bank bought 418 kg of gold to beef up its reserves and in the current financial year it intends to buy 6 metric tons of gold. The regulator, the Tanzania Mining Commission, said late on Friday in a statement that the directive will take effect effectively on Oct. 1 as part of a newly enacted mining law. Miners and traders, according to the statement, will be required to submit the reserved gold to two major mineral refineries, Eye of Africa Ltd in the capital Dodoma and Mwanza Precious Metals Refinery Ltd, located in the lake city of Mwanza in the north of the East African country. "All payments will be done according to the Bank of Tanzania arrangements," the statement said, without providing details on rates. Tanzania's foreign exchange reserves stood at $5.29 billion at the end of July, sufficient to cover 4.3 months of projected imports of goods and services. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/tanzania-orders-gold-dealers-reserve-20-purchase-by-cbank-2024-09-28/

2024-09-28 08:25

MOSCOW, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The death toll from an explosion at a petrol station in Dagestan in Russia's Caspian Sea region has risen to 13, including two children, the emergencies ministry said on Saturday. The blast, which occurred on Friday outside the regional capital of Makhachkala, also injured 23 people, it said. Healthcare minister aide Alexei Kuznetsov said that four people remained in hospitals, including one in serious condition, Russian state news agency RIA reported. Dagenergo, the regional power operator, said on Friday that power supply was partially disrupted in nearby districts.. A local branch of the Investigative Committee, which deals with serious crimes in Russia, said it had opened a criminal case. Preliminary results showed no traces of explosives at the scene, the committee wrote on Telegram. Dagestan Governor Sergei Melikov told a briefing that some violations had previously been discovered during inspections of the petrol station but that these had been resolved before the blast, state agencies reported. More than 130 petrol stations in Dagestan closed over the past year for various violations had resumed operations as a result of local court decisions, Melikov said. The search operation after the blast is ongoing, he said. Local authorities declared Sept. 28 a day of mourning in the region. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/five-people-killed-blast-fuel-station-russias-dagestan-2024-09-27/

2024-09-28 07:38

NEW DELHI, Sept 28 (Reuters) - India is seeking bids to supply 6,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity from renewable energy power projects for assured peak-hour supply with storage, according to a tender issued by state-run SJVN (SJVN.NS) , opens new tab. India is looking to connect a record 35 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind energy capacity to its grid during the year ending March 2025, with a target of increasing its non-fossil power capacity to 500 GW. SJVN seeks power from an inter-state transmission system that carries power across state boundaries nationwide, Saturday's tender advertisement in the Times of India newspaper showed. India added 10 GW of renewable capacity in the period from April to August, the first five months of this fiscal year, taking its total to about 153 GW, government data showed. Earlier, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, the top bureaucrat at the ministry for new and renewable energy told Reuters the country expected a lot of projects for battery-linked storage. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-seeks-6000-mw-peak-renewable-power-supply-with-storage-2024-09-28/

2024-09-28 06:17

KATHMANDU, Sept 28 (Reuters) - At least 66 people have been killed in Nepal since early on Friday as persistent downpours triggered flooding and landslides, closing major roads and disrupting domestic air travel, officials said on Saturday. The death toll could rise, they added, with another 69 people reported missing, and 60 injured since Friday morning, home ministry official Dil Kumar Tamang told Reuters. Most of the deaths took place in the Kathmandu valley, which is home to 4 million people and the country's capital, where the flooding brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill. Rescue workers used helicopters and rubber boats to help people stranded on rooftops or elevated ground as some parts of Kathmandu reported up to 322.2 mm (12.68 inches) of rain over the last day. Most rivers in the Himalayan nation have swollen, spilling over roads and bridges, authorities said, after nearly a week's delay in the retreat of South Asia's annual monsoon rains brought torrential downpours across the region. Police were working to clear debris and reopen roads after landslides blocked highways in 28 places, said police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki. The earliest let-up in the rains might not come until Sunday, said Binu Maharjan, a weather forecasting official in Kathmandu, who said a low pressure system over parts of neighbouring India had caused this year's extended rains. "Heavy rains are likely to continue until Sunday morning and weather is likely to clear after that," Maharjan told Reuters. Most central and eastern areas had received moderate to extremely heavy rainfall, ranging from 50 mm (2 inches) to more than 200 mm (8 inches), she added, with moderate levels recorded elsewhere. International flights are operating, but many domestic flights have been disrupted, said Rinji Sherpa, a spokesperson for Kathmandu airport. The Koshi River in the southeast, which causes deadly floods in India's eastern neighbouring state of Bihar almost every year, was running above the danger level at 450,000 cusecs, versus the normal figure of 150,000 cusecs, one official said. A cusec is a measurement of water flow equivalent to one cubic foot a second. The river level is still rising, added Ram Chandra Tiwari, the area's top bureaucrat. Hundreds of people die in the monsoon season every year in the landslides and flash floods common in the mountainous nation. Authorities said at least 254 people have died and 65 missing in landslides, floods and lightning strikes since mid-June when the annual monsoon rains started. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nepal-rains-bring-floods-landslides-that-kill-10-with-seven-missing-2024-09-28/

2024-09-28 05:59

HANOI, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Asia's strongest storm this year, Typhoon Yagi, caused damages estimated at 81.5 trillion dong ($3.31 billion) across northern Vietnam, or twice as much as previous estimates, state media said on Saturday. The typhoon, which killed 299 with 34 missing, devastated export-oriented industrial hubs, destroying factories and facilities, besides flooding farmland, damaging homes, and tearing up a bridge. "The total economic damage is initially estimated at over 81.5 trillion dong, with most damage triggered by landslides and flash floods," state-run Vietnam News Agency quoted Agriculture Minister Le Minh Hoan as saying. The figure exceeds a preliminary estimate of $1.6 billion made this month by the planning ministry that threatened to chip 0.15 percentage point from a forecast for economic growth of 6.8% to 7% this year. Hoan urged authorities to help people resume production while ensuring supplies and holding down prices, as farm and agricultural land were among the areas hit hardest. Live pig prices in Vietnam have risen steadily since Typhoon Yagi and subsequent flooding affected several pig farms, Reuters has reported. On Thursday, rating agency S&P Global said Vietnamese banks' profitability would be hit because of typhoon debt relief measures ordered by the central bank. ($1=24,590.0000 dong) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnam-estimates-damages-331-bln-typhoon-yagi-2024-09-28/