Commodities

This Week in Environment News: 11 Stories You Need to See

Published

2 years ago

June 23, 2023

A roundup of the week’s most newsworthy environment industry press releases from PR Newswire, including a net zero initiative for the dairy industry and consumers’ concerns about CO2 emissions.NEW YORK, June 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the environment industry stay on top of the week’s most newsworthy and popular releases, here’s a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn’t be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.Nestlé Health Science Collaborates with Royal Dairy Farm to Help Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions through U.S Dairy Net Zero InitiativeTogether, Royal Dairy and Nestlé Health Science are aligned on four key areas of environmentally-focused innovation—cow feed, manure management, renewable energy, and regenerative agriculture – to show how dairy milk can be a sustainable source of nutrition.Ansys Study Finds More than 60% of Consumers are Concerned About CO2 EmissionsOf consumers polled in Ansys’ survey, nearly 70% said they would be more likely to trust alternative fuel sources — sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), electric, hybrid-electric, or hydrogen-powered — if the technology was extensively simulated and tested using established methods applied to aircraft safety.The Home Depot Sets Goal for Battery-powered Products to Represent over 85% of Outdoor Lawn Equipment Sales by 2028This transition will reduce over 2,000,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases annually from exhaust pipes of residential lawn equipment. To reach this goal, The Home Depot will work to extend its leadership position in battery technology and offer cordless outdoor power tools from market leading brands such as Ryobi, Milwaukee, Makita, DeWalt and more.BREAKING Cannes 2023: GALE Signs Clean Creatives Pledge in Major Commitment to SustainabilityWith its global workforce of 750+ with people in New York, Toronto, Bengaluru and more, GALE’s pledges guarantee that the agency will decline any future contracts with fossil fuel companies, trade associations, or front groups.The Carbon to Value Initiative Announces Year Three Startup Cohort for Carbontech Accelerator Program”Carbon is a waste product, suspended in the air we breathe,” said Pat Sapinsely, Managing Director of the Urban Future Lab. “These innovative companies use it as a feedstock, capture the accumulated waste of the past 150 years, and convert it into useful products.”Black Tulip Flowers Leading the Way with Eco-Friendly Practices in the Floral Industry, Awards and PartnershipsAs part of this initiative, they have partnered with MPS, an organization that is making the global horticulture sector more sustainable. This partnership ensures their sustainability efforts are transparent, measurable and demonstrable.Maintaining safe waste and refuse collections in growing communities Reliable, regular, and safe waste management is an important part of a community’s infrastructure. However, as the number of residential streets grows, maintaining safety is becoming more and more difficult for operators of waste and refuse services.Climate Tech Proves More Resilient; Silicon Valley Bank Releases Annual Climate Tech ReportWhile the venture capital (VC) ecosystem has experienced the most significant valuation correction in over a decade, climate tech valuations have remained at or above their 2021 levels since investors recognize the growing opportunity for climate technologies.Liberty Science Center to Host the World Premiere of OceanXperience: An Interactive and Immersive Exhibition Featuring the Most Advanced Research and Filmmaking Vessel in the World, OceanXplorer”OceanXperience elevates OceanX’s mission to educate people about the wonders of our ocean, most of whom only get to see the unique lifeforms and ecosystems through a screen at home,” said Mark Dalio, Founder and Co-CEO of OceanX. “Our oceans require our care, attention and appreciation right now and what better way to form a deep bond with our oceans than to put yourself in the shoes of an ocean explorer.”Novelis builds first onsite solar parkWith this project, Novelis is investing $2.4 million in decarbonizing its production in Pieve, further supporting the development of low-carbon, sustainable aluminium solutions for the European market.New era of smart irrigation will embrace AI and machine learning alongside human expertise, says industry pioneer CalsenseThe new initiative is designed to drive new levels of water and labor conservation to meet the needs of a changing climate and the weather effects that brings, as well as tackling ongoing challenges related to labor shortages.Read more of the latest environment-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNenv on Twitter.Helping Journalists Stay Up to Date on Industry NewsThese are just a few of the recent press releases that consumers and the media should know about. To be notified of releases relevant to their coverage area, journalists can set up a custom newsfeed with PR Newswire for Journalists.Once they’re signed up, reporters, bloggers and freelancers have access to the following free features:Customization: Create a customized newsfeed that will deliver relevant news right to your inbox. Customize the newsfeed by keywords, industry, subject, geography, and more.Photos and Videos: Thousands of multimedia assets are available to download and include with your next story.Subject Matter Experts: Access ProfNet, a database of industry experts to connect with as sources or for quotes in your articles.Related Resources: Read and subscribe to our journalist- and blogger-focused blog, Beyond Bylines, for media news roundups, writing tips, upcoming events, and more.About PR Newswire and PR Newswire for JournalistsFor more than 65 years, PR Newswire has been the industry leader with the largest, most comprehensive distribution network of print, radio, magazine, television stations, financial portals and trade publications. PR Newswire has an unparalleled global reach of more than 200,000 publications and 10,000 websites and is available in more than 170 countries and 40 languages.PR Newswire for Journalists (PRNJ) is an exclusive community that includes over 20,000 journalists, bloggers and influencers who are logging into their PRNJ accounts specifically looking for story ideas. PR Newswire thoroughly researches and vets this community to verify their identity as a member of the press, blogger or influencer. PRNJ users cover more than 200 beats and verticals.For questions, contact the team at media.relations@cision.com.

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Commodities

Oil prices steady; traders digest mixed US inventories, weak China data

Published

17 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Investing.com– Oil prices steadied Thursday as traders digested data showing an unexpected increase in US product inventories, while weak economic data from top importer China weighed.

At 05:25 ET (10:25 GMT), expiring in March gained 0.1% to $76.25 a barrel, while rose 0.1% to $73.37 a barrel.

The crude benchmarks had slumped more than 1% on Wednesday, but trading ranges, and volumes, are likely to be limited throughout Thursday with the US market closed to honor former President Jimmy Carter, ahead of a state funeral later in the session.

China inflation muted in December

Chinese inflation, as measured by the , remained unchanged in December, while the shrank for a 27th consecutive month, data showed on Thursday.

The reading pointed to limited improvement in China’s prolonged disinflationary trend, even as the government doled out its most aggressive round of stimulus measures yet through late-2024.

China is the world’s biggest oil importer, and has been a key source of anxiety for crude markets. Traders fear that weak economic growth in the country will eat into oil demand.

The country is also facing potential economic headwinds from the incoming Donald Trump administration in the US, as Trump has vowed to impose steep trade tariffs on Beijing.

US oil product inventories rise sharply

U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories grew substantially more than expected in the week to January 3, government data showed on Wednesday.

inventories grew 6.3 million barrels against expectations of 0.5 mb, while grew 6.1 mb on expectations of 0.5 mb.

Overall crude also shrank less than expected, at 0.96 mb, against expectations of 1.8 mb.

The build in product inventories marked an eighth straight week of outsized product builds, and spurred concerns that demand in the world’s biggest fuel consumer was cooling.

While cold weather in the country spurred some demand for heating, it also disrupted holiday travel in several areas.

EIA data also showed that US imports from Canada rose last week to the highest on record, ahead of incoming U.S. president Donald Trump’s plans to levy a 25% tariff on Canadian imports.

Canada has been the top source of U.S. oil imports for many years, and supplied more than half of the total U.S. crude imports in 2023.

Strength in the also weighed on crude prices, as the greenback shot back up to more than two-year highs on hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve.

A strong dollar pressures oil demand by making crude more expensive for international buyers.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

Commodities

Trump’s possible tariffs could put downward pressure on oil prices – RBC

Published

17 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Investing.com – President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to implement sweeping import tariffs during his second term in the White House is potentially the “most bearish” policy development for the energy sector this year, according to analysts at RBC Capital Markets.

Trump, who is set to come to power in less than two weeks, has vowed to impose tariffs of as much as 10% on global imports into the US and 60% on items coming from China. He has also pledged to slap a 25% surcharge on products from Canada and Mexico.

Economists have flagged that the proposal would not only rattle global trade activity, but also threaten to reignite inflationary pressures and spark possible retaliation.

The uncertainty in markets was heightened on Wednesday after CNN reported that Trump is mulling declaring a national economic emergency in order to provide the legal underpinning for the tariffs. Earlier this week, Trump also denied a separate report that his team was mulling scaling back the levies to cover only critical goods.

In a note to clients on Thursday, analysts at RBC led by Helima Croft said that while the ultimate scope of the tariffs remains unclear, the headline duties on China could soften demand in the country and place downward pressure on oil prices. China is the world’s largest crude importer.

Business leaders with significant ties to China may advise Trump to stay away from instituting strict tariffs on the country, Croft predicted.

“We have also heard a view in Washington that President Trump could be amenable to a deal with China if Beijing offered to make large headline purchases of US goods, such as aircraft or even US [liquefied natural gas] imports,” Croft wrote.

“Beijing could also potentially seek to trade a reduction in Iranian crude imports for a tariff reprieve.”

However, Croft flagged that the overall market effect of the tariffs is still “challenging to forecast” because the Trump administration — unlike a prior round of trade tensions in 2018 — will have to weight the impact of the policies with broader macroeconomic worries “still front of mind for many in Washington”.

(Reuters contributed reporting.)

Commodities

Gold prices edge higher; demand boosted by Trump-inspired uncertainty

Published

17 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Investing.com– Gold prices edged higher Thursday, continuing the recent gains, as heightened uncertainty over a hawkish Federal Reserve and President-elect Donald Trump’s plan for trade tariffs fueled some safe haven demand.

At 06:15 ET (11:15 GMT), {68|Spot gold}} rose 0.4% to $2,683.84 an ounce, while expiring in February rose 0.3% to $2,668.60 an ounce.

Trading activity is likely to be limited Thursday, with US traders on holiday to honor former President Jimmy Carter, with a state funeral due later in the session.

Safe haven demand on economic uncertainty

Bullion prices benefited from some safe haven demand this week, as uncertainty over Trump’s trade and immigration policies dented risk appetite.

A CNN report said Trump could declare a national economic emergency to legally justify his plans to impose universal trade tariffs.

Concerns over Trump’s policies also came into focus after the of the Fed’s December meeting showed policymakers expressing some concerns over sticky inflation.

Specifically, Fed officials were growing concerned that Trump’s expansionary and protectionist policies could underpin inflation in the long term.

The minutes also largely reiterated the Fed’s plans to cut interest rates at a slower pace in 2025, after the central bank effectively halved its projected rate cuts to two from four in 2025.

Treasury yields shot up after the Fed’s minutes, as did the dollar.

Higher for longer rates bode poorly for non-yielding assets such as metals, given that they increase the opportunity cost of investing in the sector.

Other precious metals were edged higher Thursday. fell 0.1% to $983.85 an ounce, while rose 0.8% to $30.930 an ounce.

Copper rises as weak China inflation fuels stimulus hopes

Benchmark on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.7% to $9,093.0 a ton, while March rose 1.2% to $4.3115 a pound.

Chinese were flat in December, while shrank for a 27th consecutive month, indicating little improvement in disinflation.

Inflation remained weak even as Beijing doled out its most aggressive round of stimulus measures through late-2024.

But Thursday’s inflation data fueled increased bets that Beijing will do more to shore up Chinese growth, especially on the fiscal front.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

Among industrial metals, copper prices firmed as weak inflation data from top importer China spurred bets on more stimulus measures from Beijing.

But metal markets remained under pressure from strength in the dollar, which came back in sight of over two-year highs on hawkish signals from the Fed.