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Enchentes afetam operações de empresas no Sul do Brasil

  • Market: Agriculture, Metals, Petrochemicals
  • 08/05/24

Diversas empresas brasileiras suspenderam operações no Rio Grande do Sul em razão das chuvas intensas que causaram diversos alagamentos e danos à infraestrutura.

As enchentes ocasionadas pelo recorde de chuvas geraram pelo menos 83 mortes e 111 pessoas desaparecidas, de acordo com o governo estadual. Mais de 23.000 pessoas foram obrigadas a deixarem suas casas em meio a danos generalizados, incluindo pontes e rodovias inundadas em diversas cidades.

A barragem da usina hidrelétrica 14 de Julho, com capacidade de 100MW, no rio das Antas, rompeu na semana passada em meio às fortes chuvas. A Companhia Energética Rio das Antas (Ceran), que opera a usina, implementou um plano de evacuação de emergência em 1 de maio.

  • A produtora de aço Gerdau informou em 6 de maio que suspendeu suas operações em duas unidades no estado até que seja assegurada a "segurança e proteção das pessoas". A empresa não divulgou o volume de produção de aço dessas unidades.
  • A empresa de logística Rumo interrompeu parcialmente suas operações e informou que os "danos aos ativos ainda estão sendo devidamente mensurados".
  • A gigante petroquímica Braskem desligou duas unidades no complexo petroquímico Triunfo, como uma medida de prevenção em decorrência dos "eventos climáticos extremos" no estado, afirmou em 3 de maio. A empresa adicionou que não há expectativa de data para retomar as atividades. A Braskem opera oito unidades industriais no Rio Grande do Sul, que produzem 5 milhões de toneladas (t)/ano de petroquímicos básicos, polietileno e polipropileno, de acordo com seu website.

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06/12/24

US House panel approves river infrastructure bill

US House panel approves river infrastructure bill

Houston, 6 December (Argus) — A US House of Representatives committee has approved a bipartisan bill that authorizes improvements to navigation channels by the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and maintenance and dredging of river and port infrastructure projects. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) after several months of political wrangling to integrate earlier versions of the legislation approved by the House and Senate . The bill will head to the full House next week, said committee chairman Sam Graves (R-Missouri). This would be the sixth consecutive bipartisan WRDA bill since 2014 if passed by congress. WRDA is a biennial bill that authorizes the Corps to continue working on projects to improve waterways, including port updates, flood protection and supply chain management. WRDA will also "reduce cumbersome red tape", which will allow for quicker project turnarounds, Graves said. The bill authorizes processes to streamline work, he said. The bill also adjusts the primary cost-sharing mechanism for funding for lock and dam construction and major rehabilitation projects. The US Treasury Department's general fund will pay 75pc of costs, up from 65pc, with the rest coming from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, which is funded by a barge diesel fuel tax. By Meghan Yoyotte Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Tight supply fuels Indian interest in wire rod imports


06/12/24
News
06/12/24

Tight supply fuels Indian interest in wire rod imports

Mumbai, 6 December (Argus) — Interest in steel wire rod imports is increasing in India owing to limited domestic availability, delivery snags and high prices set by primary producers, according to industry sources. Unspecified quantities of Chinese low-carbon wire rod were booked for $515-520/t cfr Mumbai, excluding value-added tax, in the past few weeks, sources in both China and India told Argus . High-carbon wire rod was also heard to have been purchased from China recently, although this could not be confirmed. The booking follows reduced supply from state-controlled long products manufacturer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL), according to a Mumbai-based long products trading firm. RINL at present is grappling with financial difficulties and raw material shortages, which has taken a toll on its production. Many participants have questioned this purchase, as no Chinese mill has a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certificate required for exporting wire rod to India. Non-BIS material can be cleared by customs only if the material is used to manufacture goods that will be exported. The booking has been made under the advance licence scheme, which allows for such non-BIS imports, a source said. But there are only a handful of wire manufacturers that export their product and can use imported wire rods, according to market participants. At a trade fair in Mumbai last month, wire manufacturers said they were increasingly seeking alternatives to domestic primary wire rod as high input costs were squeezing their margins. High-carbon wire rod was priced at 57,000-58,000 rupees/t ($672-684/t) by major domestic producers on a delivered basis in western India, sources said. Chinese offers stood at $570-580/t cfr India for high-carbon wire rod a few weeks ago, but have now fallen to $560/t cfr, a trading source said. Wire manufacturers focused on domestic sales were turning to secondary wire rod, which was nearly 20pc cheaper than primary material, according to a participant at the Mumbai trade fair. But trading companies and consumers pointed to availability as the bigger issue, with only a few major primary producers dominating the wire rod market. Securing a regular and timely supply of wire rod from primary mills has become a major challenge, causing supply chain disruptions for end-users, they said. "The price is one factor, but availability is also a key issue. Mills are unreliable when it comes to allocation and delivery of the material," a wire manufacturer said. "This has always been the case but not to the extent seen recently. Now supply concerns have become worse because of RINL's issues." RINL's finished steel output fell by 26pc on the year to 1.6mn t from April-October, according to provisional data from the steel ministry's joint plant committee. Another wire manufacturer said it had not imported wire rod for more than a year, but was now open to cheaper imports to protect its margins. For some finished products, such as automobile parts, it is essential to use wire rod from primary producers but imported or secondary material could be used to manufacture some other products, a manufacturing firm executive said. Long products amount to only a small portion of India's overall steel imports, which are dominated by hot-rolled coil and other flat products. From April-October this year, India imported about 49,300t of wire rod — including alloy, non-alloy and stainless steel products — an increase of more than 30pc on the year, according to data from the steel ministry's Joint Plant Committee. This made up less than 1pc of India's overall finished steel imports during the seven months. By Amruta Khandekar Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Newly agreed EU, Mercosur FTA faces uphill battle


06/12/24
News
06/12/24

Newly agreed EU, Mercosur FTA faces uphill battle

Montevideo, 6 December (Argus) — The EU and South America's Mercosur closed a free-trade agreement (FTA) nearly 25 years in the making, but there is still a long road to ratification. Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced the deal at a Mercosur summit in Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital. The presidents of the three other Mercosur founding members — Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay — were present. The FTA will remove tariffs on more than 90pc of goods among the members. Von der Leyen called the agreement a historic milestone that would benefit 700mn consumers. She said the agreement "is not only a trade agreement, but also a political necessity." Lacalle said "an agreement of this kind is not a magical solution, but an opportunity." Leaders recognized that the agreement still has major hurdles to clear as it requires approval from member states. The agreement will go to legal review and translation in the next month in view of its future signing, according to the Mercosur-EU declaration. While the Mercosur countries are in favor of the agreement, opposition is strong in France, Poland and several smaller EU states. Argentinian president Javier Milei, who supports the agreement, criticized Mercosur as a block. "Mercosur, which was born with the idea of deepening our commercial ties, ended up like a prison that does not allow its members to take advantage of their comparative advantages or export potential," he said. Van der Leyen said that more than 60,000 businesses, half of them small, export to Mercosur. The EU exported $59bn to Mercosur in 2023, while Mercosur's four founding members shipped $57bn to the EU. She also stressed the importance of EU investment in Mercosur, including in sustainable mining, renewable energy and sustainable forestry. Brazilian president Luiz Lula da Silva said during the summit that the region had to take advantage of its resources, including agriculture and energy. The four Mercosur countries are major food producers, including crops such as corn, soy and sugarcane, used for biofuels. Brazil is the world's top soy producer, while Argentina is third, Paraguay sixth and Uruguay in the 14th spot. Bolivia, which joined Mercosur in July, is the 10th producer. Brazil is a major mineral producer and Argentina is slowly beginning to strengthen its mining sector. It has the world's second-largest lithium resources. Argentina is also beginning to monetize its unconventional gas formation, Vaca Muerta, the second largest in the world with 308 trillion cf of reserves. It is working on different LNG projects, with a focus on exports to Europe. The Mercosur countries also have in common plans for low-carbon hydrogen production, which also see the EU as an export market for value-added products, such as fertilizers. By Lucien Chauvin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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US added 227,000 jobs in November


06/12/24
News
06/12/24

US added 227,000 jobs in November

Houston, 6 December (Argus) — The US added 227,000 non-farm jobs in November as hiring bounced back after two hurricanes and a strike dampened the prior month. Job gains for the prior month were revised higher to 36,000 from an originally reported 12,000, the Labor Department said today. Payroll employment increased by a monthly average of 186,000 jobs for the 12 months through November. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.2pc from 4.1pc and was higher than the 3.7pc rate a year earlier. The CME's FedWatch tool showed an 87pc probability the Federal Reserve will cut its target rate by a quarter point at its 19 December meeting, up from 70pc probability on Thursday. The Federal Reserve has signaled it will be cautious in determining the pace of further rate cuts next year after beginning to cut rates from two-decade highs this year as inflation slowed. Health care added 54,000 jobs, with leisure and hospitality adding 53,000. Government added 33,000 and transportation equipment manufacturing added 32,000 after the return of workers who were on strike. Retail trade lost 28,000. Manufacturing added 22,000, construction added 10,000 and mining and logging added 2,000. Average hourly earnings advanced by an annual 4pc. By Bob Willis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Q&A: Oman OQ’s fourth IPO draws firm investor interest


06/12/24
News
06/12/24

Q&A: Oman OQ’s fourth IPO draws firm investor interest

Muscat, 6 December (Argus) — Oman's state-owned OQ raised 188mn Omani riyals ($489mn) from its fourth initial public offering (IPO) this year with a "good mix of both international and local investors" flocking to the company's chemical and LPG subsidiary, OQ Base Industries (OQBI). OQBI's chief executive Khalid Al Asmi spoke to Argus at the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association forum in Muscat about the company's expansion plans and its emission reduction targets. Shares in OQBI are expected to begin trading on the Muscat Stock Exchange on 15 December. OQBI has seen strong interest from some of the largest investors in Oman. How would you evaluate the investor interest so far? If we look into the overall average of the offering, the IPO price was 2.1 times oversubscribed by both retail and institutional investors, Looking at the trend of investors, it was a good mix of both international and local investors. The fact that the investors believed in our story by buying off our shares implies the trust that they have on our company and on our future plans. Are there any capacity expansion plans or new any projects in the pipeline for next year? We do not have any projects in line for next year. However, we have non-committed projects that are awaiting FID and other approvals from the shareholders. We are looking at a brownfield expansion project to increase our current methanol plant capacity by 50pc to 550,000 t/yr. In it, we are also exploring technologies for decarbonisation and carbon capture. Our aim is to get this project up and running by 2028. We have done an initial study and it was concluded that the project is valuable. How would you view the long-term outlook for petrochemical markets? The market segments that we are operating — methanol, ammonia and LPG— are all expected to grow in the future. Ammonia has already started penetrating into the marines [sector], same with methanol. LPG will grow to around 39mn t/yr by 2030. So the market is still hungry for our products. That will support the prices, which would either go up or go in line with the GDP. Looking forward, we are not worried about the markets, based on the available information that we have. How does OQBI's strategy fit into Oman's clean energy transition plans? We have both short-term and long-term targets for carbon emission reductions. For the near term, we expect to reduce our carbon footprint by 25pc by 2030 from our base target that was set in 2023. So far, we have reduced our energy intensity by 0.3mn Btu/t produced and now we are targeting 1.1mn Btu in 2025. By 2030, it would be a 25pc reduction. There is growing interest in green ammonia and blue methanol, how is OQBI positioned to capitalise on the interest? We are very well-positioned to capitalise on the shift. We have an ambitious growth target for both blue methanol and green ammonia for 2030 and beyond. That is in line with the net zero target that was set by the government of Oman. We currently have plans to start the transit but that will only happen when the right time comes. When the 365,000 t/yr ammonia plant was built, we took into consideration the need to achieve zero Scope 1 emissions. So the transition from ammonia to green is doable. When it comes to methanol, we will always rely on gas, so green methanol is not an option. But when the time comes, it can also be converted into blue methanol. How is methanol demand looking in the markets you are targeting? When we are referring to the market we are supplying to, we don't deal with the market directly. We are leveraging on the outreach of OQ Trading, which is considered one of the top five methanol traders globally. OQ Trading has a global reach from markets in Asia to Europe and even the Americas. The market is always dynamic and we will always target the market that gives us the highest netback. Currently, Asia is more profitable but tomorrow it could be somewhere else. By Rithika Krishna Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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