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Trump brings South Africa closer to the EU with 4.7 billion Euros pledged by the EU
On Thursday, European Union leaders visited South Africa and announced a 5.10 billion euro (5.10 billion euros) investment package. This comes at a moment when the United States is on a worse relationship with both countries than it has been in decades. The European leaders claimed that the visit would be an opportunity to deepen ties with Africa’s most developed economy. This coincided with the presidency of the G-20 nations by the African nation, which U.S. officials had so far largely ignored. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has shocked European leaders by his shift towards Russia during the Ukraine conflict. This is a major change in U.S. foreign policy following Moscow's invasion of 2022. His pro-Israel stance brought him into conflict over South Africa's genocide case at the World Court against Israel. The U.S. Administration has also intervened in Europe's and South Africa’s domestic politics. It criticised Europe for trying to isolate the extreme right and ignoring voter concerns about immigrants while cutting aid to South Africa due to its efforts to correct historic racial injustice. The EU visit was an opportunity for South Africa to improve relations, which had soured after it refused to condemn Vladimir Putin of Russia for his invasion of Ukraine. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said that South Africa played a crucial role in the global stage as the leading voice for the Global South. She said, "In an era of increasing confrontation and competition we must further strengthen our partnership." She told President Cyril Ramaphosa at a meeting in Cape Town that Europe wants to grow the South African economy. She said this while sitting next to the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa. She mentioned clean hydrogen as an example of how South Africa can make use its abundant raw materials and vast renewable energies potential. Ramaphosa stated that South Africa valued European support of multilateralism in a time when nationalism is on the rise. He said that African relations with the European Union must be built upon a partnership of mutual benefit. $1 = 0.9223 Euros (Additional reporting and writing by Alexander Winning, Tim Cocks, and Sfundo parakozov. Editing and proofreading by Tim Cocks, Alison Williams and Tim Cocks)
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US sanctions Iranian oil minister and shadow fleet
Treasury Department: The United States sanctioned Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Pakhnejad on Thursday, as well as some Hong Kong flagged vessels that form part of an "shadow fleet" that is used to disguise Iranian oil shipments. Treasury released a statement saying that Paknejad oversees the export of Iranian oil worth tens and tens billions dollars, and has given billions worth of oil to Iran’s armed forces. Treasury said it also identified owners or operators for vessels that delivered Iranian oil into China or removed it from its storage. It said that these vessels were located in multiple jurisdictions including India and China. Iran's military uses a large fleet of shadow ships to conceal shipments worth billions of dollars to China. Thursday's designated vessels include the Hong Kong-flagged Peace Hill and its owner Hong Kong Heshun Transportation Trading Limited, the Iran-flagged Polaris 1, the Seychelles-registered Fallon Shipping Company Ltd, and the Liberia-registered Itaugua Services Inc, Treasury said. It said that the U.S. Department of State has designated three entities and three ships as blocked property. Reporting by Doina chiacu, Editing by Brendan O'Brien & Toina Chopra
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Starmer: UK tanker crash after-effects'reasonably controlled'
Keir starmer, British Prime Minister said that the aftermath of the tanker crash near the English coast this week was "reasonably contained". Fears of an environmental catastrophe had eased as the focus shifted to the investigation of how the incident occurred. The Solong, a container ship flying the Portuguese flag, collided with the Stena Immaculate on Monday, an anchored tanker carrying U.S. Military jet fuel. The collision resulted in huge explosions and fires. Jet fuel was also spilled into the ocean. The tanker is still at anchor, with a huge hole in its side. Meanwhile, the container ship that was badly burned has been stabilized after initial fears of it sinking. Starmer stated that the situation was reasonably contained at the moment. Starmer said that the cause has yet to be determined. We have a process, but we need to dig deeper. The initial concerns about an environmental catastrophe have diminished. According to preliminary assessments, the jet fuel has mostly been burned off. After his arrest on February 2, the captain of Solong, a Russian, was placed in custody under suspicion of gross negligence. This offence is for situations in which a death occurs as a result of a grossly negligent action or omission. Local police released a statement saying that a judge had granted detectives extra time to interview the captain. The 36 crew members of the vessel who survived the incident were brought to land. In a separate press release, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch of Britain (MAIB), said that it would be leading the safety investigation. It was seeking to determine the cause of the accident and prevent similar accidents from happening again. The MAIB stated that it would inspect the two vessels and retrieve the Voyage Data Recorders as soon as it was safe. The MAIB's investigations would look at "fatigue management", navigation practices, and weather conditions. (Reporting and additional reporting by Muvija; editing by Michael Holden, Bernadettebaum and Michael Holden)
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Farm lobby: Increase in Ukraine rail tariffs will add $3 to $6 per ton to logistic costs
The proposed increase in tariffs of Ukraine's railways monopoly Ukrzaliznytsia could increase the cost of agrarian transportation logistics by $3 to 6 per metric ton, and lead to bankruptcy for some farmers. Ukrzaliznytsia raised freight rates by 37% last year to cover significant increases in fuel, electricity, and equipment repair costs as it tried to deal with the effects from Russian attacks. Farmers and steelmakers have already expressed their opposition to price increases. The railways are essential for the export of grain, metallurgical and other products. Oleg Khomenko, the head of UCAB on Facebook, said: "If this decision is not revised then some farmers may be forced to reduce their production." He claimed that the past two years had been unprofitable for Ukrainian agricultural producers, and that a possible increase in tariffs could mean higher production costs as the majority of Ukrainian grain is shipped through the Odesa port region. (Reporting and editing by Tomaszjanowski, with Pavel Polityuk)
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Starmer: UK tanker crash after-effects'reasonably controlled'
Keir starmer, British Prime Minister said that the aftermath of the tanker crash near the English coast this week was "reasonably contained". Fears of an environmental catastrophe had eased as the focus shifted to the investigation of how the incident occurred. The Solong, a container ship flying the Portuguese flag, collided with the Stena Immaculate on Monday, a tanker anchored that was carrying U.S. Military jet fuel. The collision resulted in huge explosions and fires. Jet fuel was also spilled into the ocean. The tanker is still at anchor, with a huge hole in its side. Meanwhile, the container ship that was badly burned has been stabilized after initial fears of it sinking. Starmer stated that the situation was reasonably contained at the moment. Starmer said that the exact cause has yet to be determined. We have a process, but we need to dig deeper. The initial concerns about an environmental catastrophe have diminished, as preliminary assessments show that the jet fuel has mostly been burned off. There are no other signs of leakage from either ship. After his arrest on February 2, the captain of Solong, a Russian, is still in custody under suspicion of gross negligence. This offence is for situations in which a death occurs as a result of a grossly negligent action or omission. The 36 crew members were also brought to land. In a separate press release, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch of Britain (MAIB), said that it would be leading the safety investigation. It will seek to determine the cause of the accident and prevent similar accidents from happening again. The MAIB stated that it would inspect the two vessels and retrieve the Voyage Data Recorders as soon as it was safe. The MAIB's investigations would also look at "fatigue management", navigational practices, and weather conditions. (Reporting and additional reporting by MuvijaM; editing by Michael Holden.)
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Tunisia receives offers for 100,000 T of soft wheat tender, traders report
Initial assessments by European traders suggest that the lowest price offered at Thursday's international tender for about 100,000 metric tonnes of soft wheat from Tunisia was $268.67 per ton, including freight and cost. No purchase has been made yet, but offers are still being evaluated. If the conditions are not attractive, then it is unlikely that the lowest offer will be accepted. They said that Casillo, a trading house, was thought to have made the lowest offer of 25,000 tons. Viterra, a trading house, offered $268.79 per ton C&F for two consignments of 25,000 tons. The reports reflect the assessments of traders, and it is still possible to estimate prices and volume later. The wheat will be shipped between April 10 and 25 depending on the origin. Michael Hogan reports.
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Singapore's Sembcorp Industries cancels Indonesia gas contract due to regulatory issues
Sembcorp Industries, the Singaporean utilities company, announced on Thursday that it had terminated a gas sales agreement its unit signed for the import of piped natural gas from the Mako fields in Indonesia. The firm cited regulatory hurdles as the reason. The Temasek Holdings firm claimed that it did not receive the regulatory approvals required from Indonesia for the agreement to proceed. Sembcorp said that the move would not impact its energy costs, or its ability meet Singapore's gas needs. It also stated that it will have no material impact on the earnings per share in 2025. Sembcorp will instead use its own natural sources, including liquid natural gas, to meet its needs. Sembcorp Gas Pte, a unit of Sembcorp, signed a contract with three companies in September last year to import PNG up to 111 BTUs per day. West Natuna Exploration, a subsidiary from Indonesia's Conrad Asia and London-listed oil-and-gas explorer Empyrean Energy PLC, as well as energy firm Coro Energy Duyung Pte were the firms. Sembcorp's largest earner, the gas and related services division, reported a 10% decline in its annual profits in early February.
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Data shows that Russian diesel is still being shipped to Syria by US-sanctioned oil tankers.
Data shows that a second tanker subject to U.S. sanction is moored at the Syrian port Banias, and could deliver a cargo of diesel from Russia. This comes as Moscow and Damascus are strengthening their ties. Moscow supported former Syrian autocrat Bashar al-Assad for more than 10 years of civil war, but now wants to improve its relations with Ahmed al-Sharaa as it wants to keep the two Russian military bases in Syria. According to LSEG, the Barbados flagged Proxima with approximately 30,000 metric tonnes of diesel left Primorsk back in February. It is currently drifting near Banias as it awaits to unload its cargo. On January 10, the Proxima, along with 180 other vessels, was sanctioned by the United States. The tanker Prosperity arrived last week in Syria's coast waters with about 37,000 tons of diesel that was loaded at the Russian Baltic port Primorsk. Shipping data shows that both tankers switched off their ship tracking devices upon arrival and hid their operations. Syria recently received a shipment of local currency that was printed in Russia. More shipments are expected to follow in the near future, another sign of improved relations between Moscow and Syria’s new rulers. Western countries such as the U.S. and EU, along with Britain, are also easing pressure on Syria. Reporting by in Moscow. (Editing by Sharon Singleton.)
Maguire: Vietnam's industrial boom is driving global coal imports at new heights.
Vietnam is now a major driver for global growth of thermal coal imports, and its use. In 2024, the country increased imports by more than 30% to reach record levels.
According to Kpler, a ship tracking firm, Vietnam's thermal coal imports will rise 31% by 2024 to 44 million tons. This is compared to a mere 1% increase in global thermal coal exports in the past year, to 1,01 billion tons.
The surge in coal imports, the largest power source in Vietnam, is largely due to the booming export-oriented manufacturing sector.
Vietnam's coal purchase growth in 2024 will be higher than the 11% increase in China's imports, which is the world's biggest coal consumer. This means that Southeast Asia saw the highest rise in coal imports last year.
Vietnam's coal demand is expected to continue growing as the country's capacity for coal burning will increase by another 15% when projects currently under construction are complete.
The increased coal capacity is likely to ensure that coal-fired electricity emissions continue to rise in the coming years even though coal burning continues its steady decline outside of Asia.
COAL DEPENDENCE
According to Ember, coal-fired power plants generated half of Vietnam’s electricity between January and October 2024. This is the largest coal share in Vietnam since 2020.
The total coal-fired production increased by 17% between January and October 2023. This helped to drive the annual increase in electricity by 10%.
According to Global Energy Monitor, coal accounts for 39% of the current installed capacity, which is around 70,000 GW. This is equivalent to 27,239 gigawatts.
The next highest generation share is 21% (14.750 GW), followed by solar farms with a share of around 19% (13.100 GW).
Wind farms account for 9% of the total (8,150 GW) and natural gas and fuel oil plants make up 12%.
Around 11,600 GW is under construction, with coal-fired and gas-fired power plants both expected to increase by around 4,000GW.
GEM data show that there are also 3,500 GW worth of new solar, hydro and wind capacity being built.
Vietnam's fossil-fuel-fired energy footprint will grow from 51% to 53.3% when the current construction capacity is completed.
RÉGIONAL NORMS
Although Vietnam's growing fossil fuel production contrasts with the planned capacity changes in Europe, the United States and other parts of the world, Southeast Asia still relies heavily on fossil fuels.
In Southeast Asia, fossil fuels account for 71% of current capacity and 60% of capacity currently under construction.
The strong growth rates in several countries across the region and the large, rapidly expanding workforces of most Southeast Asian nations are key factors behind this dependence on fossil fuels.
According to the International Monetary Fund, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam have populations exceeding 100 million and are expected to grow at a rate nearly twice that of the global average growth rate of 3.2% by 2025.
Leading Role
Vietnam's economy grew by 5.6% per year on average since 2018. This is the fastest rate of growth among Southeast Asian countries during this period.
The key to Vietnam's growth has been the rerouting manufacturing supply chains away from China and towards other low-cost production centers since U.S. president Donald Trump launched a trade conflict with China during his term.
Vietnam's strong connections to global trade routes and its experience in a variety of manufacturing processes, which is rapidly developing, made it the ideal destination for companies that wanted to reduce their production bases within China while maintaining a presence throughout Asia.
The rapid expansion of Vietnam's manufacturing industry led to a dramatic increase in energy consumption. Local power companies were forced to use whatever means they could in order boost their power supply.
According to Ember, the total demand for electricity in Vietnam has risen by 27% between 2018 and 2023.
This growth rate is higher than the 23% increase in Indonesia, the 12% rise globally and the 12% in the Philippines over the same time period. It has put pressure on Vietnam's suppliers of energy.
In recent years, the relentless increase in power consumption has led to frequent power outages. This is especially true during heatwaves where cooling systems are in high demand.
In order to avoid further power problems, Vietnam's energy providers have prioritized stability and cost-efficiency as they expanded their generation. This has led to a continued dependence on coal, the country's main power source.
Between 2030 and 2050, the energy companies of the country plan to increase their generation capacity using renewable energy and other clean sources.
In the short term, however, coal will remain the preferred power fuel in Vietnam. Its use is expected to continue growing along with the overall economy of the country for the foreseeable. These are the opinions of a market analyst at.
(source: Reuters)