July, 2017

• 9 July

  Renewables top nukes in US power mix for first time since 1984

  

  Bloomberg For the first time in more than 30 years, America’s nuclear plants have fallen behind wind farms, solar panels and other renewable energy suppliers as a source of electricity. In March and April, US power from utility-scale renewables topped output from reactors for the first time since July 1984, according to a US Energy Information Administration report. Supplies from ...

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• 9 July

  Mississippi order ends Southern clean coal effort

  

  Bloomberg A seven-year, $7.5 billion effort to build a first-of-its-kind “clean coal” power plant in Mississippi is officially over. Mississippi regulators ordered utility owner Southern Co. to come up with a deal that’ll have the Kemper plant — once hailed by the Obama administration as the future of coal — running as a natural gas-fired generator instead. That ratified Southern’s ...

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• 9 July

  President’s aide questions Venezuela oil ventures

  

  Bloomberg Oil joint ventures that account for about 40 percent of Venezuela’s output are being thrown into question by the man advising President Nicolas Maduro in rewriting the constitution. “We’re going to change it,” Hermann Escarra, a constitutional lawyer who participated in the crafting of the country’s current charter and is advising Maduro on attempts to rewrite it, said on ...

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• 9 July

  Top oil traders bet American shale is here to stay

  

  Bloomberg The world’s biggest energy traders are betting shale oil production is here to stay. European trading houses from Trafigura Group Pte. to Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and Vitol Group have invested in US infrastructure and struck supply deals to secure flows of shale oil and gas. The agreements show the traders see long-term opportunities in an industry that has ...

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• 9 July

  Red flags raised for India’s bond market as farmer bailouts rise

  

  Bloomberg Investors in India’s bond market are already raising red flags on the potential impact from populist farmer bailouts being engineered by different state governments. Yields on the so-called state development loans, or SDLs, climbed at the most recent auction, widening their spread over sovereign rates. The increase comes amid concern that waiving billions of dollars in farm loans will ...

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• 9 July

  Top iron shipper says price to go below $50 as supplies swell

  

  Bloomberg Iron ore will sink back below $50 a metric ton next year as global supply expands and demand moderates in China, according to Australia, the biggest exporter, which released its revised outlook just hours before the country’s largest port reported record shipments for June. The raw material will average $49.10 next year, 4.8 percent below a previous estimate, and ...

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• 9 July

  World’s biggest pension fund has best performance in 2 years

  

  Bloomberg The world’s biggest pension fund posted its best annual gain in two years, as Japanese and overseas stocks rose while government bonds slid. The Government Pension Investment Fund returned 5.9 percent, or 7.9 trillion yen ($70 billion), in the year ended March 31, increasing assets to a record 144.9 trillion yen, it said in Tokyo. That’s the biggest advance ...

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• 9 July

  China’s great reflation shows signs of being a let-down

  

  Bloomberg China’s great reflation is showing further signs of being a let-down. Producer price gains have eased back from February’s eight-year high as activity in the property and infrastructure sectors slows amid a government crackdown on risky lending. Prices at the factory gate rose 5.5 percent in June from a year earlier, the same pace as May, according to a ...

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• 9 July

  UK factories cut output, clouding growth outlook

  

  Bloomberg UK factories and construction firms unexpectedly cut output in May, casting doubt over the performance of the economy in the second quarter. Manufacturing fell 0.2 percent from April as vehicle production posted the biggest drop in more than a year, the Office for National Statistics said. Total industrial production declined 0.1 percent. Building output shrank by 1.2 percent. There ...

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• 9 July

  Syngenta settles farmer’s contamination suit ahead of trial

  

  Bloomberg Syngenta AG reached a confidential settlement with a Nebraska farmer who claimed the company mishandled marketing of its genetically modified seed, causing US corn prices to plummet. With the settlement, Syngenta averts a trial that was scheduled to start July 10. Terms weren’t disclosed. Two weeks ago, Syngenta lost a $218 million jury verdict for a class of Kansas ...

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