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Scania CEO says committed to Northvolt regardless of cutbacks, shipment problems
Scania owner Traton is committed to utilizing Sweden's Northvolt as the truckmaker's single battery provider regardless of recent production and shipment issues, its CEO stated on Monday. Scania needed to hold off a ramp-up of its battery-electric truck production by a year and hold-up shipments to consumers due to the troubles at Northvolt, Europe's leading battery supplier. The worst thing was that we needed to go back to all the customers and state 'Sorry, we can not deliver,' Christian Levin, who is CEO of both Traton and Scania, told Reuters at the IAA Transport truck program in Hanover. Volkswagen is among Northvolt's largest investors and is the moms and dad company of Traton. Asked about the setbacks at Northvolt, which suddenly decided to diminish operations and cut jobs, Levin said Traton is in close contact with the supplier and trying to support it but decreased to comment on Traton's contractual relationship. Scania told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet in May that it was not able to ship countless electric trucks last year due to Northvolt's problems, highlighting a widespread concern. Now Traton and Northvolt have actually created a brand-new strategy for Scania that is staying up to date with customers' needs, Levin stated, including it is now delivering batteries in line with the strategy. Northvolt and Volkswagen entered a $14 billion supply agreement in 2021 covering the next ten years. A Volkswagen representative decreased to comment on its investments. Northvolt was not readily available for comment. The battery maker, which has $15 billion in equity and financial obligation funding from organizations consisting of Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, filings reveal, has been trying to raise more cash to fund its ramp-up. Scania prepares that half of its lorry sales will originate from electric trucks by 2030. It assembles batteries in a brand-new assembly plant in its hometown of Sodertalje using products from Northvolt.
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Pipeline fire appears in La Porte, Texas, prompting evacuations
A pipeline fire broke out in La . Porte, Texas, on Monday early morning, the city's Workplace of Emergency situation. Management said, knocking out power to thousands of homes and. organizations and prompting nearby evacuations. Videos published by a regional news station revealed a huge flame. near streets and organizations. It was not right away clear who owned the pipeline or what. it was carrying. CenterPoint stated the fire was not associated with its. natural gas operations or devices. Over 5,000 CenterPoint. Energy customers lacked power, according to a posting on. the business's website. When it is safe to do so, our electrical crews will go into. the area to evaluate the damage to our transmission and. circulation power lines, poles and devices and start. bring back service to impacted consumers as safely and rapidly as. possible, the company said. A nearby Walmart shop was evacuated and closed. following the incident. Trainees participating in schools near the. scene of the fire were safe and sheltering in location, the La . Porte Independent School District stated.
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Wizz Air anticipates 15-20% growth in passenger volume next year
Wizz Air anticipates 1520% growth in guest volume next year, its chief executive informed Reuters on Monday, with new lowcost paths to the Middle East, such as from Europe to the United Arab Emirates, adding an additional boost. Internationally, we are expecting 15-20% (development), but I believe Abu Dhabi is going to grow beyond this, Jozsef Varadi said. Hungary-based Wizz Air, which brought a record 62 million travelers throughout the year ended in March 2024, set up operations in the UAE in 2019 as a joint endeavor with Abu Dhabi's third greatest sovereign wealth fund ADQ. In the Middle East, where issues of a broader flare of the war in Gaza have actually prompted global airline companies to suspend flights or avoid air area, Wizz Air is keeping an eye on every advancement, Varadi said. He added that Wizz Air wants to develop Saudi Arabia as an incoming market rather than establishing a regional provider there. The airline, which flies an all-Airbus fleet, recently revealed it would release its very first A321XLR, a single-aisle aircraft that will enable it to cover longer distances, to run a path between London's Gatwick airport and Saudi Arabia's Jeddah beginning with March 2025. Another A321XLR airplane will run a day-to-day flight between Milan Malpensa airport and Abu Dhabi beginning with June next year. Certainly we are extremely excited about Jeddah, Varadi said. We are seeing that more European operations might be flown incoming to Saudi in the future. He added, nevertheless, that all new routes went through regulatory approvals and capacity restrictions due to troubles with Pratt & & Whitney engines, which required Wizz Air to ground part of its fleet, adding to a 44% drop in first-quarter operating earnings.
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France's CFDT union might take strike action over Exxon task cuts
France's CFDT trade union stated on Monday that it might sign up with a continuous strike by the CGT union at ExxonMobil's Port Jerome refinery as talks with the company near a due date. Up until now, the strike action has actually been limited to chemical employees after Exxon stated it would shut down its steam cracker and close chemical production at the site this year. Exxon has 2 refineries in France that represent about 30% of the country's capability. A representative said the strikes have actually not impacted its refining, regardless of a blockade in late June. The closures at the facility will indicate 608 workers losing their tasks from 2025, the Exxon spokesperson informed Reuters. The end of info and assessment duration for the labor force assistance plan is Sept. 20, so Exxon and the unions need to reach an arrangement by the end of the week, they added. CFDT, one of France's largest unions, stated in a declaration it was worried that working conditions would be considerably deteriorated by the proposed modifications. The CFDT currently does not dismiss any action, including legal action, to defend the interests of all staff members, but chooses to return to the negotiating table, it stated. The CFDT participated in strikes last year at French refineries over President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms, which saw disruptions to fuel supplies throughout the country.
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Ariane 6 set for brand-new launch this year after software application defect identified
Space launch company Arianespace on Monday declared plans to stage the second objective of Europe's Ariane 6 launcher before the end of the year after a glitch that spoiled the inaugural launch was traced to an quickly fixable software fault. Following prolonged delays, Europe's most recent uncrewed rocket blasted off on July 9 and successfully performed a series of trials. However the mission ended with the launcher cruising in orbit without releasing its last batch of payloads. Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel said the failure to phase a. third shooting of the upper-stage Vinci engine, which led to. the final releases being curtailed, had been traced to a. software application flaw that would be fixed before the next launch. In a separate statement, a task force of federal government companies. and companies supervising the introduction of Ariane 6, consisting of. the European Space Agency and Arianespace moms and dad ArianeGroup,. said there were no showstoppers to the next flight. Ariane 6 was established at an estimated cost of 4 billion.
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Aramco to up stake in EIG's MidOcean to 49%, fund brand-new stake in Peru LNG
Saudi Aramco will increase its stake in melted gas company MidOcean Energy to 49%. and fund its acquisition of a new 15% stake in Peru LNG from. Hunt Oil Business, MidOcean said on Monday. The Saudi oil giant agreed to buy a minority stake in. MidOcean from EIG for $500 million in 2015, its very first foray. into LNG abroad, without divulging the stake's size. Aramco is looking for to reinforce its position in the LNG. market, which is set to grow by 50% worldwide by 2030, particularly. in the United States where LNG capacity is set to nearly double. over the next four years. MidOcean did not disclose just how much it is spending for the. stake in Peru LNG (PLNG) or the value of Aramco's financing. Aramco, agents for EIG and Hunt did not instantly. react to emailed ask for remark. MidOcean and Hunt will each hold a 35% stake in PLNG when. the offer closes, MidOcean said in its statement. Aramco's more investment in MidOcean reinforces. MidOcean and Aramco's position in the global LNG market and will. supply both parties with further exposure to the only LNG. export project in South America, MidOcean said. Aramco will hold an indirect stake of 17.2% in PLNG. Hunt. continues to hold a 25.2% holding in the Camisea upstream. task in Peru, where it has been invested since 2000, MidOcean. said.
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TSX touches record high on bets of larger Fed rate cut
Canada's primary stock index edged up to an alltime high up on Monday, driven by gains in health care shares, while investors bank on a heftier U.S. interestrate cut later on this week. The Toronto Stock market's S&P/ TSX composite index was up 54.98 points, or 0.23%, at 23,623.63. It had notched record-high closing levels in the past 2 sessions. A minimum of 9 sectors acquired, led by a near 1% rise in health care. Bausch Health Companies leapt 6.7% after reports of unit Bausch + Lomb exploring sale alternatives. The domestic index pared initial gains, however, taking hints from Wall Street after the tech-heavy Nasdaq signed up an over 1% decline. Chances of a 50-basis-point rate cut at the end of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day conference on Wednesday have actually increased to 63%, from 30% recently, according to the CME's FedWatch tool. It's most likely the very first cut of many to come and that supercharges the resource-heavy Canadian market for a number of reasons, stated Allan Small, senior investment advisor at Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth. Zero-yield gold and other dollar-denominated commodities tend to take advantage of lower U.S. rate of interest. Crude oil and gold are among Canada's leading exports. The Bank of Canada has currently cut its interest rates three successive times this year, bringing the policy rates down from a two-decade high of 5% to 4.25%. On the information front, Canadian factory sales grew by 1.4% in June from May on greater sales of petroleum and coal products, as well as chemical products. The TSX's financials sector climbed up 0.4%, while energy stocks increased 0.35%. West Texas Intermediate crude futures increased 2.51%. and Brent crude gained 1.98%. The TSX has actually added 12.7% for the year.
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Postal Service chief 'completely dedicated' to prompt US ballot deliveries
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said on Monday he is personally completely devoted to guaranteeing all 2024 governmental election tallies are delivered in a timely style and vowed to react to concerns raised by state and regional officials. A group of about 3 dozen election authorities from the National Association of State Election Directors and other groups on Wednesday raised major concerns about USPS's capability to deliver millions of tallies for the 2024 presidential election, pointing out concerns about processing center operations, lost or postponed election mail, and front-line training shortages affecting USPS's ability to deliver election mail in a prompt and accurate manner. DeJoy stated in a letter launched on Monday that he would hold a call with state officials to address particular concerns. The authorities stated that, despite duplicated conferences with USPS election staff, we have actually not seen improvement or collective efforts to remediate our issues. DeJoy stated the USPS Office of Inspector General is auditing its plants and delivery units and will report any election mail problems they find and we will address those issues expeditiously. Starting Oct. 1, USPS will deploy ballot monitors and others in processing, retail and shipment units to reinforce and magnify our policies and procedures on the ground USPS said typically it is currently delivering mail in 2.7 days however continues to recommend as a sensible procedure that citizens need to mail their completed ballot before Election Day, and a minimum of one week prior to their state's deadline. The inspector general has said 46% of votes were cast by mail in the November 2020 presidential election, compared with 21% in the 2016 election. USPS said in the 2020 general election, it provided 99.89%. of ballots from voters to election authorities within seven days. Voting by mail in some states is set to begin in the coming. weeks.
Asia area costs increase on supply concerns, geopolitical tensions
Asian area melted natural gas (LNG) prices increased this week as outages in LNG facilities in Australia and Malaysia sparked supply concerns, although buying interests from China remained limited due to greater cost levels.
The typical LNG price for October delivery into north-east Asia << LNG-AS > was at $14.00 per million British thermal units ( mmBtu), industry sources estimated, up from $$ 13.80/ mmBtu last week.
LNG supply concerns helped to support rates in Asia and Europe. The unplanned downtime at Australia's Ichthys impacting one train is set to last into October and restraints to production at Malaysia's Bintulu are understood to have interfered with loading schedules for the coming weeks, stated Samuel Good, head of LNG pricing at product pricing company Argus.
The marketplace was paying close attention to U.S. Freeport LNG, which had a brief shutdown after a fire security suppression system in the control room of the pretreatment center suddenly activated throughout routine upkeep.
With Freeport's feedgas elections for Thursday holding at around half of the terminal's gas need throughout regular operations, traders were looking for to assess how long the cut to production could continue, Good said.
Somewhere else in Asia, ongoing heatwaves have resulted in some interest for area volumes from Japanese and Indian buyers for September-October shipment over the previous week, stated Masanori Odaka, senior analyst at Rystad Energy.
There is 70% -80% likelihood of above-average temperatures for the majority of regions of Japan from Aug. 31 through Sep. 6.
In Europe, gas costs rose the majority of the week as an increase in upkeep in Norway is curbing supplies to Europe and Britain, with some failures extended and threats remain over Russian circulations through Ukraine.
The scenario in European gas markets will remain tense in the coming week as we are yet to see the biggest curtailment in Norwegian pipeline gas deliveries as an outcome of maintenance. This, together with the sticking around geopolitical tensions, provides little relief to the market in the short term, said Florence Schmit, energy strategist at Rabobank London.
Lower pipeline shipments have actually likewise raised LNG need requirements, especially in northwest Europe with imports up 25%. considering that the start of August-- guaranteeing that competition with. Asia stays strong. At the end of the day, Europe's energy. crisis is being kept alive by its reliance on worldwide energy. markets, she included.
S&P Global Product Insights assessed its daily North West. Europe LNG Marker (NWM) cost standard for freights provided in. October on an ex-ship (DES) basis at $12.438/ mmBtu on Aug. 29, a. $ 0.26/ mmBtu discount rate to the October gas rate at the Dutch TTF. hub.
Trigger Commodities assessed the rate at $12.379/ mmBtu, while. Argus examined it at $12.475/ mmBtu.
Atlantic LNG freight rates were down for the 3rd week. running, falling to $60,500/ day on Friday, while the Pacific. rates was up to $77,500/ day, stated Glow Commodities expert Qasim. Afghan.
(source: Reuters)