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Pre-tariff US traffic boosts revenue from the Ferrovial Highway
Ferrovial, a motorway and airports company, reported a first-quarter surprise revenue boost from freight traffic on US toll roads and Canadian toll roads, likely related to imports anticipating sweeping U.S. Tariffs, according to its CFO. The Spanish company's surge in revenue despite the adverse winter weather is part of a larger trend of increased commercial activities at U.S. roads and ports that predated U.S. president Donald Trump's announcement on April 1, 2017 of new tariffs. Many of these remain suspended. Ferrovial reported last week that its first-quarter revenues from its North American toll roads business rose by 14%. This shows growth in a region where the company plans to focus its investments over the next few years. Ernesto Lopez, Chief Financial Officer Ernesto Lopez said late on Tuesday that "we were the first ones to be surprised (that) the results were even better than we expected." Lopez added that the public data showed traffic on toll road levels to be higher than last year. Ferrovial is a Canadian company that operates toll roads and highways in the United States. Ferrovial also plans to bid on between four and six motorway construction projects located in California, Tennessee and North Carolina. Lopez said that the increase in commercial traffic could be due to a greater volume of goods entering Texas from the Mexican border. North Carolina traffic was also boosted by more companies sending their employees back to work. According to the U.S. Commerce Department Census Bureau, the U.S. Trade Deficit in Goods widened in March to a new record high as businesses increased efforts to bring merchandise in and to pre-empt the impact of tariffs. Imports to the U.S. reached a record $342.7 billion in March, mainly due to consumer goods and automobiles. (Reporting and editing by Andrei Khalip, David Goodman, and Corina Pons)
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Maguire: World solar power set to surpass nuclear generation for the first ever
This summer, the global electricity generated by solar farms will surpass the output of nuclear reactors. This is a significant milestone in the continued growth of solar energy within the global energy system. Solar farms generate electricity only during daylight hours, so their annual output is far behind that of wind, nuclear, and hydroelectric systems. Solar farms have started to exceed global wind production during the summer of last year in the northern hemisphere. Solar farms are now set to briefly eclipse global hydroelectric systems during peak solar production. CAPACITY SURGE Solar systems are relatively inexpensive and can be connected quickly, which is why utilities have added twice as much capacity as other sources of power to their generation networks over the last decade. According to Ember, the energy think-tank, by 2024 there will be 1,866 gigawatts of utility-scale solar power generation embedded in global electrical systems. This was the biggest capacity increase of all major power sources in that time period. Wind power has seen the second largest increase in capacity, by a factor 3.2. All other sources of generation have seen a capacity less than doubled. Solar power's capacity in terms of total was third among the major sources of power generation by 2024. It was behind coal's 2,174 gigawatts (GW) and natural gas's 2,055 gigawatts, but above the 1,283 gigawatts of hydroelectric and 1,132 GW wind power. OUTPUT AFFECT Since the beginning of this decade, peak solar electricity production has reached new heights every year due to the steadily increasing solar capacity footprint. Ember data show that utility-scale solar power generation has increased by 25% per year on average since 2020. Solar generation in the first three month of 2025 was 34% higher than in the same period of 2024. This was due to the widespread increase in generating capacities in many key regions. If the monthly solar production continues to be around 30% higher than in 2024's same month, then global solar electricity output will exceed 260 Terawatt Hours (TWh), per month, during June, July, and August this year. These output totals are likely to be far greater than the output of the nuclear reactor fleet in the world, which has a peak monthly production of 252 TWh and an average monthly output 223 TWh by 2024. As daylight hours begin to decrease in the northern Hemisphere, home to three quarters of all solar farms on the planet, solar generation is expected to fall below 250 TWh by September. Solar farms will supply more electricity than nuclear reactors in the world for the first ever during the summer of 2015. This is a new benchmark for the solar industry. UTILITY SCALE Utility operators face both challenges and opportunities as a result of the constant growth in solar energy supplies. Solar farms are intermittent and can produce more power than is needed at peak times, but then stop production completely during the night. This means that real-time balancing of systems with other sources of energy is necessary. The rapid growth of solar power in national grids also forces utilities to upgrade their grids so that they can better handle fluctuations in renewable energy and optimize the overall flow of electricity over time. A growing number of utilities are also deploying batteries to store excess solar power during times when it's not needed, then dispatching that power at peak electricity demand. The "solar plus battery" model allows utilities to limit the use of fossil-fuels in their generation mix, which in turn can save money when gas and coal prices increase and reduce emissions. When solar farms reach new output records this summer, utilities will be able reduce nuclear production at peak times, then increase it again when the solar output drops during the night. It could help utilities reduce their reliance on fossil-fuels, while maximising clean energy generation. This would also set the stage for future growth in solar power generation and usage. These are the opinions of the columnist, an author for.
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WGC - Despite challenges, major LNG suppliers push new projects to feed the global demand for power
The producers are pushing forward with their liquefied gas projects. They are banking on the urbanisation of the world and its technology sector, which will drive global demand for power and overcome such challenges as oversupply and rising costs. The LNG fuel is seen by many as a transitional fuel to zero emissions. Energy security is also a priority for governments around the world after Russia's invasion in Ukraine caused gas prices to reach record highs. Tengku Taufik of Malaysian energy company Petronas said at the World Gas Conference that Asia-Pacific economies were "ravenously hungry" for LNG. The proliferation of data centers supporting artificial intelligence (AI), he said, was also driving the demand. The need for reliable baseload energy from conventional sources has also been highlighted by power grid outages. You think that customers will have to wait for a week before they can get electricity? "No way." "They want 24/7 electricity," said Patrick Pouyanne CEO of French giant TotalEnergies. "Even if we build beautiful renewables systems... we need gas-fired plants." Woodside predicts that the demand for LNG will increase by 50% by 2030. Shell anticipates an additional 60% to reach 630-718 millions metric tons per year by 2040. LNG Canada, Corpus Christi LNG Phase 3 and Plaquemines LNG will be the main suppliers of new LNG this year to meet this growing demand. LNG Canada is expected to ship its initial cargo in June. TotalEnergies is pursuing new LNG project in Australia, Woodside Energy of Mexico Pacific LNG, Commonwealth LNG, and Australia's Woodside Energy. TotalEnergies hopes to lift force majeure for its $20 billion Mozambique Gas project by mid-summer and resume construction, Pouyanne stated. The project was stopped in 2021 after an insurgency led primarily by militants linked to the Islamic State swept through the region. RISE IN COSTS Concern over rising costs has dampened producers' optimism about the prospects of the market. TotalEnergies is, for instance, looking to reduce capital expenditure on its Papua New Guinea Project by 20 to 25 percent and expects to make a final investment decision in this year. Woodside Energy is also looking to sell another stake in its Louisiana LNG project. Industry executives warned that the wave projects could lead an oversupply which could lower prices. Ma Yongsheng of Sinopec Corp in China estimated that the new global liquefaction capability would be 420 million tonnes by 2030 – more than twice as much as expected growth in LNG imports worldwide. Andrew Walker, vice-president for LNG strategy at Cheniere Energy, also expects new supply to increase by a third by 2030 to 600 million tones. In order to ensure that LNG demand continues, it is important that LNG prices are competitive, particularly in markets with high price sensitivity, like South and Southeast Asia which heavily depend on coal power generation. "We want to make the price affordable." We don't think southwest Asia should switch to coal because the asset will be there for at least 40-60 years. Jack Fusco, CEO of Cheniere, said that it was not good for both the company and for the entire world. (Reporting and writing by Colleen howe and Sam Li; editing by Florence Tan and Tomaszjanowski)
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EU investigates alleged illegal dumping of tires from China
Following a complaint by the EU tyre sector, the European Commission opened an investigation on Wednesday to determine whether anti-dumping actions are required on imports from China of passenger car and light truck tyres. The Commission said that if the investigation confirmed that EU tyre industries suffer injury or are threatened with injury due to dumped imports coming from China, it may impose antidumping duties on these imports. The investigation must be completed within 14 months from the date of launch. "Provisional anti-dumping actions may be imposed in eight months if dumping has been established and a resultant injury is provisionally proven," the report added. The EU has already implemented anti-dumping measures and anti-subsidy policies on the importation of Chinese tyres and wheels for bus and lorry. In 2024, the EU market for passenger car tyres and light trucks is expected to be worth more than 18 billion euro ($20.41billion).
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IndiGo Airlines reports its first quarterly profit increase in four quarters
IndiGo, India's national airline, reported on Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profits had risen by 62% - the first time in four quarters. This was due to a robust demand for domestic flights. The largest airline in the country by market share made a profit for the quarter ending March 31 of 30,73 billion rupees, up from 18,94 billion rupees last year. In recent years the Indian aviation industry has experienced robust growth, especially in the post pandemic period. This is largely due to rising income levels and a growing middle class. Analysts noted that IndiGo was at the forefront of resurgence due to its fleet expansion and new routes. The airline's yield (which is the amount of money that an average passenger earns for each kilometre traveled) rose by 2.4%, to 5.32 rupees a kilometre, in the third quarter. The company's operating revenue for the quarter increased by 24%, to 221.52 billion Rupees. This growth was partly aided by the introduction more routes with Business Class seats. The total expenditure grew 19%, to 199.3 Billion Rupees. IndiGo improved its load factor (or the capacity used to carry passengers) from 86.4% to 87.4%. The company expects its first-quarter seat-kilometre capacity to increase by a mid-teens percent from the year before. IndiGo shares closed 0.4% ahead of the quarterly results. The shares gained 12% for the quarter ending March 31. $1 = 85.5170 Indian Rupees (Reporting and editing by Janane Venkatraman in Bengaluru, Meenakshi maidas and Nandan Mandyam)
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Poland claims Russian ship made'suspicious' manoeuvres near cable to Sweden
In a Wednesday post on X, the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that a Russian ship belonging to the "shadow fleet", which is subject to sanctions, performed suspicious maneuvers near a cable connecting Poland and Sweden. He added that "after the effective intervention by our military, the vessel sailed into one of the Russian port." He added that the ORP Heweliusz of the Polish Navy was on its way to the scene. The 600 megawatt cable undersea links the Swedish coast near Karlshamn to Ustka, in northern Poland. This allows both grids rely on the cross-border supply of electricity when it is cheaper in one system. NATO has increased security in the Baltic after a series of incidents where power cables, telecom links, and gas pipelines were damaged following Russia's invasion in Ukraine in February 2022. The cable, according to Wladislav Kosiniak Kamysz, belongs to the Polish grid operator PSE. (Reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, Marek Strzelecki, Barbara Erling; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK assesses EU sanctions impact on its LNG ships
Mitsui O.S.K., Japan's second largest shipping company. Lines (MOL), said that it is carefully assessing how new sanctions imposed against Russia by the European Union will affect three of its LNG vessels. A company spokesperson said on Wednesday that the company would continue to cooperate fully with the relevant authorities including the European Union, the Japanese government and other international laws and regulations. We will take the appropriate steps as needed, in accordance with rights and obligations. The EU adopted four packages of sanctions on Tuesday against Russia for the war in Ukraine. One package targeted the shadow fleet. The package included MOL-owned and managed North Moon LNG, North Ocean LNG and North Light LNG ships. Kpler data showed that the three ships, built in 2024 and transferring cargoes to east Asia from the Yamal LNG project of Russia, were transferred via ship-to-ship with the ice-breaking vessel Nikolay Urvantsev. North Ocean delivered a Yamal LNG cargo to Taiwan on 19 April, while North Moon and North Light made previous shipments to Dalian Port in northern China and Jieyang Port in southern China respectively on 17 March and 1 April. According to Kpler, North Moon and North Light have both been loaded with Yamal LNG cargoes en route to Asia. (Reporting from Yuka Obayashi, Tokyo; Emily Chow, Singapore; editing by Topra Chopra).
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India's Russian crude oil imports reach 10-month high due to strong demand for ESPO
Ship tracking data from Kpler revealed that India's crude oil imports from Russia will reach close to 1.8 millions barrels per day by May, which is the highest level in 10 months. This was after refiners purchased more lighter grades, such as ESPO blend. Indian refiners purchased more than 10 cargoes last week of ESPO crude with June loading, traders reported. The purchases were made before the EU and Britain's latest sanctions against the "shadow fleet" (oil tankers, financial firms) of Moscow. India's strong demand led to a rise in spot premiums on ESPO cargoes shipped to China, which is the largest buyer of crude oil exported from Kozmino port. The shutdown of crude distillation units at India's largest refineries Reliance Industries (RI) and MRPL has increased the import requirement for feedstock to fluid catalytic crinkers at favorable margins. This was said by Jay Shah, a senior analyst at Rystad Energy. He said that some of the cargoes had been delivered as part of a long-term agreement between Reliance Industries, and Rosneft. Source at an Indian refiner who bought some volumes of light sweet crude recently said: "ESPO is available in large quantities on the market." The traders are charging about 50 cents more than the Dubai prices. A second source stated that ESPO sold to India currently trades at a premium between 50 cents to $1 per barrel over Dubai prices. Analysts said that more ESPO was offered by India to China, as state-owned Chinese companies continue to shun sanctioned crudes. Meanwhile, independent Chinese refiners have a limited number of crude quotas. Traders said that India's demand for ESPO has pushed ESPO prices in China up. The premium for cargoes loaded in July was around $2 per barrel for delivery to Chinese port, up from $1.50-1.70 per barrel for cargoes loaded in June, traders reported. Reporting by Siyi Liu, Nidhi verma and reporters in Moscow. Editing by Florence Tan & Jan Harvey.
Polish presidential elections will test whether PM's pro EU vision is Trump proof
On Sunday, the Poles will vote in a presidential poll that will determine whether Warsaw continues on the pro-European course set by Prime Minister Donald Tusk or takes steps to bring back nationalist supporters of U.S. president Donald Trump.
Trump's return has energized eurosceptics throughout Europe. Sunday's vote will be the most stern test of Tusk’s pro-European agenda since he took power in 2023 and ousted the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS).
Rafal Trozaskowski is the incumbent Warsaw mayor, and he represents Tusk’s Civic Coalition. Karol Nawrocki is a conservative historian who has been backed by PiS.
Trzaskowski is the frontrunner. He will likely face Nawrocki if there are no candidates who win more than 50%. A run-off may be held on June 1, if none of them wins over 50%. Media blackout laws prohibit the publication of poll results between Saturday morning and Sunday's voting.
Slawomir Mentzen, a candidate from the far right Confederation Party, Szymon Holownia (President of the Parliament) from the centre-right Poland 2020 and Magdalena Biejat are also in the race.
The Polish first-round vote occurs on the same date as a Romanian second-round presidential runoff, in which George Simion (a nationalist campaigning to "Make Romania Great again") faces Nicusor Daniel, the Bucharest mayor of centrist views.
The EU would be shocked if two eurosceptics were to win, especially at a moment when the EU is dealing with both the Russian invasion of Poland's eastern neighbor Ukraine and Trump tariffs.
The polls open in Poland at 7 am (0500 GMT), and close at 9:00 pm. About 29 million people can vote.
The Polish president is limited in his executive powers, but he can veto laws. This has allowed the outgoing president Andrzej Duda, an ally of PiS, to block efforts by Tusk, who wants to undo judicial reforms implemented under PiS. Tusk claims that these changes hamper democracy.
Trzaskowski pledged to cement Poland’s role as an important player in the European policymaking process and to work with the government on rolling back PiS’s judicial reforms.
'END THE CHASMA'
He told TVP Info, Friday: "I will definitely strengthen our relations with our partners... in NATO and the EU." "I'll also ask the lawmakers to hand me all of Duda's vetoed bills to sign. I hope we can also end the chaos that PiS has left in our justice system."
Nawrocki was accused of defrauding an elderly man by promising to provide care, but he never did. Trump met Nawrocki at the White House to show his support.
Nawrocki sees the election as an opportunity to prevent Tusk from gaining unchecked political power, and to push back on liberal values represented Trzaskowski. Trzaskowski was Warsaw's mayor when he patronised LGBT marches, and removed Christian crosses from public building.
He told a Lublin rally that "the cross my opponent removed in Warsaw... 1000 years of Polish heritage, is our strength and our energy."
Nawrocki, unlike some eurosceptics from central Europe who oppose military aid for Ukraine to fend of Russia. He has however tapped into the anti-Ukrainian feeling among some Poles who are worried about an influx refugees from their neighbor.
He said that Polish citizens should be given priority in the public sector and criticized Kyiv for its attitude towards exhumations of remains of Poles who were killed by Ukrainian nationalists in World War Two. Alan Charlish reports.
(source: Reuters)