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CFM to sell 30 new jet engines to Ryanair for $500 Million
Ryanair announced on Tuesday that it had purchased 30 spare LEAP-1B jet engines from CFM for a price of $500,000,000. The budget airline hopes to reduce fuel consumption as it grows its fleet. The engines will improve operational resilience, as the company takes delivery of 300 Boeing 737 MAX 10 planes from 2027. It aims to increase its annual passenger traffic from 200 million to 300 million by 2034. Ryanair, Europe's biggest airline by passenger numbers, said that the engines developed by the CFM joint-venture between GE Aerospace & Safran will be delivered in the next two year and will increase its pool of spare engines from 120 to over 120. Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair, said that the CFM engines would reduce fuel consumption by 20% and CO2 emissions by 20% per seat when installed in our B737 MAX aircraft. This will allow Ryanair to further expand its cost advantage over competitors in Europe. (Reporting from Pushkala Aripaka and Padraic HALpin in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi aich, Kirsten donovan).
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South Korea's KFA offers up to 68,000 t corn, traders claim
European traders reported on Tuesday that the South Korean Korea Feed Association has launched an international tender for up to 68,000 tons of animal feed grain. Tuesday, June 10 is the deadline for submitting price offers to the KFA Incheon section. Around September 20, corn in a consignment of 52,000 to 68,000 tonnes was wanted in South Korea. The corn sought to be shipped between August 12 and 31 if it was sourced from the U.S. Pacific Northwest Coast, or between July 23 and August 11 if it came from the U.S. Gulf. It could also have been shipped between July 18 and August 6 from South America, or between August 2-21 from South Africa. On Tuesday, the leading South Korean feedmaker Nonghyup Feed Inc. also announced an international tender for up to 138,000 tonnes of feed corn. The traders said that Asian demand was sparked by the Chicago corn futures falling more than 2% in Chicago on Monday, partly due to favorable U.S. conditions for growing and uncertainty regarding export demand. (Reporting and editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kirsten Donovan; Michael Hogan)
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The South Korean NOFI has issued tenders for up to 138,000 metric tonnes of corn
European traders reported on Tuesday that the leading South Korean feedmaker Nonghyup Feed Inc. has announced an international tender for up to 138,000 tons of animal feed grain. Also, the deadline for submitting price offers to the tender is Tuesday, June 10 Two consignments ranging from 45,000 to 69,000 tonnes of corn are required for arrival in South Korea. First consignment to arrive in South Korea is expected around September 20. Shipping is required between August 13 and September 1, if the product comes from the U.S. Pacific Northwest Coast, or if it comes from the U.S. Gulf coast between July 24 and August 12, South America between the dates of July 19 to August 7, or South Africa between the dates of August 3-22. Second consignment expected to arrive around 30 September If the shipment comes from the U.S. Pacific Northwest Coast, it is between August 23 and September 11, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico between August 3-22 or South America between July 29 and August 17; or South Africa between August 14-September 1. The sellers have the right of choice in the origins they supply. Traders said that they were looking for offers in both outright prices per ton and c&f as well as a premium on the Chicago September 2025 Corn contract. The traders reported that Asian demand was stimulated after Chicago corn futures dropped more than 2% Monday, partly due to the favorable conditions for U.S. crops and uncertainty regarding export demand. The South Korean Korea Feed Association has also released an international tender for the purchase of up to 68,000 tonnes of feed corn. This tender closes on Tuesday. Michael Hogan reported, Kirby Donovan edited.
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Hanwha Group of South Korea says that it has US approval to increase its Austal stake
The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment has approved Hanwha Group's request to increase its stake in Australian shipbuilder Austal from 9.9% to 19,9%. Austal, a company that supplies defense vessels to the U.S. Navy is seeking independent verification for this approval. Hanwha said CFIUS had also approved its increase to 100%. Hanwha currently owns a 9.9% stake and a further 9,9% economic interest via a cash-settled Total Return Swap. The application for the acquisition of shares with the Australian Foreign Regulatory Authority is still pending. Austal, however, said that they "understand that the approval granted to Hanwha is different than that claimed by CFIUS" and are requesting written confirmations from CFIUS. CFIUS didn't immediately respond to the request for comment. Austal shares rose up to 7.6%, to A$6.21, before reversing their gains. The benchmark index rose 0.7%. Hanwha's statement said that CFIUS approval was "consistent" with the interest the U.S. Government has shown in further transferring our technology and practices to the United States in order to boost shipbuilding. Austal and other U.S. allies are increasing their defence spending, which creates a favorable environment for the company. Austal's shares are up 86% since the last close of the year. This is a result of military spending. Hanwha's investment will give Austal access capital, international connections and operational expertise to help grow its business. With 112 trillion won (77.33 billion dollars) of assets, the group is South Korea’s seventh largest conglomerate. Its industries include energy, defence, and finance.
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Army radio reports that the Israeli Navy has struck Yemen's port Hodeidah.
Israeli Army Radio reported on Tuesday that the Israeli Navy carried out attacks against Yemen's Red Sea Port of Hodeidah in a campaign that is usually airstrikes. Al Masirah TV, a Houthi-run channel, said that Israel had struck the docks at Al Hodeidah Port with two strikes. No immediate reports have been made of any casualties. After the Israeli military called for the evacuation of Houthi-controlled port cities of Ras Isa and Hodeidah on Monday, the strikes came. The Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, have been firing at Israel since the beginning of the Gaza war in October 2023. They claim that they were doing this in solidarity with Palestinians. The majority of the missiles and drones that were fired at Israel either missed their target or were intercepted. Israel has launched a series retaliatory attacks. Israel has also weakened the other Iranian allies in the region, including Hezbollah of Lebanon and Hamas. Tehran-backed Houthis in Iraq and pro-Iranian groups are still there. Reporting by Jana Choukeir, Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Saad Sayeed; Lincoln Feast.
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Panama Canal boss warns MSC ports deal could threaten neutrality
According to the Financial Times, Ricaurte Vasquez, head of the Canal Authority, the sale of two Panama Canal ports to a global group led by Mediterranean Shipping Company threatens the principle of neutrality of the canal. Vasquez, in a Tuesday report by the FT, said that there is a risk of a concentration of capacity if the deal is structured the way we currently understand it. If there is a high concentration of terminal operators that are part of a single integrated shipping company or if they belong to merely one, this will affect the competitiveness of Panama on the market. This is incompatible with neutrality. MSC is one the top container shipping companies in the world. MSC and Panama Canal Authority didn't immediately respond to our request for comments. CK Hutchison announced last month that MSC was owned by the Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's family and the group seeking to purchase 43 ports including two in Panama for $22.8 billion. Clarification comes after weeks of criticism and scrutiny in China regarding CK Hutchison’s plan to sell ports to a group led by U.S. Investment firm BlackRock. BlackRock is still part of the group. After the announcement, Donald Trump, the U.S. president has expressed his desire for a reduction of Chinese influence in the Panama Canal region and called the proposed sale a "reclaiming of the waterway". In April, China’s top market regulator stated that it was closely monitoring CK Hutchison’s planned sale. It also said that the parties to the transaction should not attempt to avoid an antitrust investigation. Vasquez said that the canal could use the deal with the ports to become its own terminal operator by reactivating the project to build a port in Corozal, at the Pacific end of canal. (Reporting and editing by KanjyikGhosh; Muralikumar Anantharaman & Kate Mayberry).
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JGB and tech optimism boost Japanese stocks for third consecutive day
The Japanese stock market rose for the third day in a row on Tuesday, boosted by the gains of technology stocks and the optimism of investors about the government's attempts to stabilize the debt markets. The Nikkei Index rose 0.9%, while the Topix index grew 0.5%. The Nikkei Index saw 171 advancing issues against 52 declining ones. Stocks and Japanese government bonds have advanced in tandem, as concerns about the fiscal health of Japan's economy and its borrowing costs continue to grow. Katsunobu Kato, the Japanese Finance Minister, said that the government would work to maintain confidence in the JGB markets. This comes a day following reports that the finance ministry was considering purchasing some super-long-dated debt to limit rising yields. Maki Sawada is an equity strategist at Nomura Securities. She said, "We believe that lower interest rates as well as a stable dollar/yen exchange rate are supporting the Japanese stock markets today." Advantest, a chip-sector supplier, and Shin-Etsu Chemical, a chemical company, both jumped by 4% and 2,4% respectively following an overnight surge of nearly 2% in the Philadelphia SE semiconductor Index. Mazda Motor shares rose by 1.4% after the yen fell to 145 versus the dollar. This gave exporters a boost. Sumitomo Pharma, the largest percentage gainer on Nikkei, jumped by 5.8%. Motor maker Nidec, meanwhile, grew by 4.8%. After falling by the daily limit in two consecutive sessions, shares of space startup ispace rose 5.2%.
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Power authority: Companies are considering building 2 gigawatts of data centers near hydropower sites in NY
Justin Driscoll, CEO of the New York Power Authority (NYPA), said at a Monday conference that companies are looking to build 2 gigawatts worth of data centers close to hydropower plants operated by NYPA. The technology industry is spending tens and tens billions dollars just this year to build and run their energy-intensive AI Data Centers, which will propel U.S. electricity use to new records this year and by 2026. New York's grid operator predicts that by 2035, there will be 2.5 gigawatts worth of data centers and other large energy consumers. Driscoll, speaking at a New York Energy Week event, said that while some projects may not be realized, there is no doubt we need to increase our generation and transmission capacity in order to attract these companies. He did not name any specific company. About 800,000 households can be powered by one gigawatt. (Reporting and editing by Christopher Cushing in New York, Laila Kearney is based in New York.
Power sector drives development in US natural gas demand: Maguire
The power sector is the only significant consumer of natural gas that has revealed consistent demand development over the last few years, and has actually become the driving force behind gas demand in the United States as consumption from other sectors declines.
Gas usage by power generators has broadened by around 3.5% a year over the previous 3 years, and is by far the largest single source of gas usage in the U.S., data from LSEG programs.
However by volume, growth in natural gas use by the power sector was exceeded by declines in others. Typical gas usage by power companies grew by 70 billion cubic feet daily in 2023, while typical combined intake by market, homes and commercial users fell by 114 billion cf/day.
Power firms represented around 44.4% of overall domestic gas use in 2023, compared to around 29% by market, 15.5% by families and 11% by commercial users.
Industrial gas demand has declined by around 0.3% a year over the past 3 years, while residential and business gas need has diminished by around 0.5% and 0.7% annually respectively, according to LSEG's gas demand designs.
The growing concentration of gas usage within the power sector poses a potential threat to the U.S. gas production sector, as further fast decarbonization of power systems could trigger a. swift decline in gas need for power while other major. intake sources are already in decline.
ELECTRIC PUSH
A broad push to amaze certain heating and power systems. across homes and services has represented much of the cuts. to gas use outside power generation.
Electricity-powered heatpump and boilers have actually replaced. gas-fired heating systems in scores of homes and businesses in current. years, although the rate of heat pump sales has actually slowed due to. high electricity rates and rate of interest.
A record 4.3 million heat pumps were offered in the United. States in 2022, which was the very first year that heatpump sales. gone beyond sales of gas-powered furnaces in the nation,. according to the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration. Institute (AHRI).
Heat pump sales slowed to 3.6 million in 2023, and through. May of 2024 totalled 1.564 million units compared to 1.643. million systems during the same months of 2023, AHRI information shows.
Regardless of the slowing sales speed, the cumulative effect of the. installed pumps on gas demand has expanded, as each unit has. displaced some quantity of direct gas consumption.
POWER SWITCH
Price quotes on the precise volumes of gas displacement. by heat pumps are scant, as a lot of evaluations made by industry. tend to be in terms of cost savings instead of in terms of the. volume of nonrenewable fuel source consumption that is cut.
More complicating the gas-impact calculus is the reality. that lots of heatpump setups frequently replace one type of. energy consumption for another - from the direct burning of gas. in on-site boilers to electrical power provided by power companies.
And as that additional quantity of electrical energy should in turn. be produced primarily by power firms, the net result on total. gas usage in the United States remains difficult to discern.
That said, high-level need information reveal clear patterns.
Overall U.S. natural gas consumption throughout the very first half of. 2024 was up 2.3% from the same months in 2023.
Gas demand from power producers was up 5.2% from the very first. half of in 2015, while need from all other major gas users. was up just 0.5%, LSEG information programs.
Amongst non-power uses, gas need was 3.1% higher amongst. industrial users throughout the first half of 2024 from the exact same. period last year, but down 2.5% among residences and 1.2% lower. amongst industrial users.
That large divergence in use trends recommends that gas. intake may be close to peaking among non-power users, while. continuing to expand in the power generation sector.
GAS GROWTH
A constant increase over the previous 5 years in the proportion. of electrical power produced from gas further shows. the significance of the power sector to the natural gas industry.
Gas created 42.41% of utility-scale electrical power. production in 2023, according to energy think tank Cinder.
That share compares to 35% in 2018 and 24% in 2010, and. reveals how power companies have actually beefed up their reliance on natural. gas for electrical power generation while progressively lowering. generation from coal.
Coal's share of U.S. electrical energy generation was 16% in 2023,
below 27% in 2018 and 45% in 2010, Ember data programs.
Electricity generation from solar and wind farms was 15.6%. in 2023, compared to 9% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2010.
A further steady expansion in eco-friendly electrical power. generation is expected over the coming years, which might help. power companies make further cuts to output from coal-fired plants. as part of emissions reduction objectives.
But power manufacturers look set to stay heavy users of. gas for electricity generation, as gas plants can be. quickly throttled up and down to match the ups and downs of. power demand needs and to plug any generation shortages during. periods of low output from sustainable sources.
DEMAND PATTERN
Overall U.S. electrical power demand looks set to broaden as more. energy end-uses become amazed and as total power. usage climbs up from data centres and due to artificial. intelligence calculations.
Over the close to medium term, that greater power demand. outlook bodes well for the gas production sector, even. if direct gas usage in homes and commercial buildings. continues to agreement.
However over the longer run, the continuing concentration of gas. demand among the power sector poses a potential threat for the gas. market.
Numerous energy systems have plans to phase out gas-fired. generation and replace that power with a combination of. renewable energy generation together with battery storage systems. that can save surplus renewable power for later use.
Over the coming years, battery systems look set to stay. far too small to pose any considerable risk to gas demand.
However if utility-scale battery systems continue their current. quick growth while dropping in expense, goals for wholesale. renewables + battery systems might come true and start to. capture out gas from power systems in a years or so.
And if that occurs while other sources of gas need also. shrink, a major gas supply surplus might emerge. << The viewpoints expressed here are those of the author, a. columnist .>
(source: Reuters)