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Upper Mississippi River reopens for transit

  • Spanish Market: Agriculture, Biofuels, Chemicals, Coal, Crude oil, Fertilizers, Metals, Oil products, Petroleum coke
  • 20/03/25

The first towboat arrived at St Paul, Minnesota, today, marking the start of the 2025 navigation season on the upper Mississippi River, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps).

The Neil N. Diehl passed through Lock 2 at Hastings, Minnesota, with nine barges, crossing into St Paul on 19 March. Tows reaching St Paul signify the unofficial start of the navigation season, as St Paul is the last port to open on the Mississippi River after winter ice thaws each year.

This is considered an average start time for the navigation season, which typically opens the third week of March. The first tow to reach St Paul in 2024 arrived on 17 March.

The Corps released the final Lake Pepin ice measurements of 17in on 12 March and was unable to take new measurements this week since the ice had melted significantly. Lake Pepin measurements help determine when the ice will be thin enough for barges to transit up river.


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30/04/25

Brazil Aneel rejects grid access for green H2 projects

Brazil Aneel rejects grid access for green H2 projects

Paris, 30 April (Argus) — Brazil's electricity regulation agency Aneel has rejected requests for electricity grid connections filed by two renewable hydrogen projects in the northeast of the country — but the decision can be reverted, according to one of the companies. Spanish project developer Solatio, which is planning a renewable ammonia project in the state of Piaui, had its request for a grid connection rejected by Aneel in a resolution published last week. In March, Solatio received approval from Brazil's industry minister to build a 3GW electrolyser facility at the Parnaiba Export Processing Zone, with operations expected to start in early 2029. The firm had previously said it aims to achieve over 11GW of electrolyser capacity in Piaui in the long run. Aneel's decision to reject access to the grid was based on recommendations made by Brazil's grid operator ONS, which found the grid connection request to not be feasible as it "could result in overload and risks of voltage collapse". In the technical note, Aneel said that this decision "does not constitute a sanction or opposition to the investment itself". Instead it is a reflection of the "current technical limitations" of the power system. The regulator expects that "in the near future, structural works capable of safely serving large loads in the northeast will be proposed and granted". Brazil's energy ministry has already requested energy planning body EPE an expansion of 4GW of capacity in the northeast grid to accommodate demand from renewable hydrogen projects in the coming years. Solatio has already submitted a "new technical solution" that was designed with support of the Piaui government and state investment promotion agency Invest Piaui and that it could be approved soon, the developer told Argus . Earlier this month, renewables firm Casa dos Ventos also had a grid connection request rejected for its 900,000 t/yr renewable ammonia project planned at the Pecem port complex, in Brazil's Ceara state. Output from the Iracema project could supply TotalEnergies , which is a shareholder in Casa dos Ventos. Casa dos Ventos' request included a grid link to power a data centre project, which was refused by Aneel too. Aneel has asked ONS to provide "the set of technical information" for its recommendation and increase transparency on its assessments. Casa dos Ventos was not immediately available to comment. Hydrogen industry participants in Brazil have grown increasingly concerned about power grid bottlenecks. Even though the government has approved plans to expand grid capacity across the country, the sector worries that this could come too late for projects that hope to be early beneficiaries of Brazil's tax credit scheme unless the procedures are sped up. By Pamela Machado Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

ArcelorMittal steel output, sales rise in Brazil


30/04/25
30/04/25

ArcelorMittal steel output, sales rise in Brazil

Sao Paulo, 30 April (Argus) — Global miner and steelmaker ArcelorMittal increased its steel output in Brazil to 15mn metric tonnes (t) in 2024, up by 3.8pc from a year before. The company credited the performance increase to the expansion of its Vega unit in Santa Catarina state, which bumped cold-rolled steel production to 2.2mn t/yr from 1.6mn t/yr. ArcelorMittal Brazil is building a new rolling mill in Barra Mansa, in Rio de Janeiro, at a cost of R1.6bn ($284mn) but no production forecast has been disclosed. The producer's Brazil sales climbed to 15.1mn t in 2024, rising 5.2pc year over year, despite record steel imports into Brazil . The company attributed the sales uptick to rising domestic steel demand but noted that falling prices and import competition limited profits. ArcelorMittal Brazil's profit declined 4.7pc to R66bn last year from the previous year. The company will release its global first-quarter 2025 results on 30 April. By Isabel Filgueiras Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US economy contracts in 1Q on pre-tariff stocking


30/04/25
30/04/25

US economy contracts in 1Q on pre-tariff stocking

Houston, 30 April (Argus) — The US economy contracted in the first quarter for the first time in three years, on less government spending and a surge in imports as companies stocked up on inventories before tariffs take effect. Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted at an annual 0.3pc pace following growth of 2.4pc in the fourth quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said today. GDP last fell by 1pc in the first quarter of 2022. Economists surveyed by Trading Economics had forecast 0.3pc GDP growth for the first quarter. Businesses stocked up on imports to get ahead of tariffs that President Donald Trump has wielded to restructure the global trading system. A monthly employment report in two days may show the impacts of Trump's mass federal firings, while Federal Reserve policymakers will meet next week to consider the effects of Trump's policies on prices. Imports, which detract from GDP growth, expanded by 41.3pc after falling by 1.9pc in the fourth quarter. Exports grew by 1.8pc after declining by 0.2pc. Consumer spending rose by an annual 1.8pc in the first quarter following 4pc growth in the fourth quarter. Domestic investment, which includes inventory builds, rose by an annual 21.9pc following a decline of 5.6pc in the prior quarter. Spending on equipment rose by 22.5pc following an 8.7pc decline in the fourth quarter. Government spending fell by 1.4pc after growth of 3.1pc. Federal spending fell by 5.1pc after growth of 4pc. Defense spending was down by an annual 8pc. By Bob Willis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

CME launches Black Sea CVB Wheat Argus futures


30/04/25
30/04/25

CME launches Black Sea CVB Wheat Argus futures

Paris, 30 April (Argus) — Traders will be able to trade Black Sea wheat futures and options on the CBOT exchange from 2 June, CME Group said, via new contracts that are financially settled on the Argus 12.5pc protein wheat fob CVB price. The final settlement price will be equal to the arithmetic average of the "12.5pc Romania-Bulgaria fob CVB" under the heading "Wheat $/t" as published by Argus in the AgriMarkets report for each day that it is determined from and including the first calendar day of the contract month to and including the 15th calendar day of the contract month. The settlement is in US dollars per tonne. A total of seven monthly contracts will at all times be available for the following contract months — March, May, July, September and December. Trading terminates on the 15th calendar day of the contract month. Daily settlement will take place on each contract business day at 18:30 CET (17:30 GMT). The contracts are cleared through CME Clearing. The CBOT exchange suspended trading and clearing of all Black Sea futures and options in August 2023. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week


30/04/25
30/04/25

Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

Madrid, 30 April (Argus) — Repsol said it expects its five Spanish refineries to return to normal operations within a week following Monday's nationwide power outage. The company confirmed that power was restored to all its refineries on Monday evening, allowing the restart process to begin. It will take three days to restart the crude distillation units and 5-7 days to restart the secondary conversion units, with hydrocrackers taking the longest, according to chief executive Josu Jon Imaz. A momentary and as-yet unexplained drop in power supply on the Spanish electricity grid caused power cuts across most of Spain and Portugal, disrupting petrochemical plants and airports, as well as refineries. Imaz noted that Repsol was fortunate that its refineries avoided damage from petroleum coke formation and other solidification processes during the shutdown. Repsol's 220,000 b/d Petronor refinery in Bilbao was the first to restart, thanks to electricity imports from France, he said. State-controlled petroleum reserves corporation Cores has temporarily reduced Spain's obligation to hold 92 days of oil product consumption as strategic reserves by four days, mitigating potential supply issues from the outage. Imaz declined to speculate on the cause of the power outage. By Jonathan Gleave Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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