Trump's ‘egg price' claim turns real as prices drop across US
The latest CPI report comes after five consecutive months of soaring egg prices, driven by a severe avian flu outbreak that forced the mass culling of egg-laying hens. While April brought some relief, egg prices remain well above pre-outbreak levels. In April, a dozen large eggs still cost 79 per cent more than the same time last year, when they averaged USD 2.86.The recent decrease in egg prices comes amid easing pressures from avian influenza, which has devastated egg-laying flocks since early 2022, killing over 169 million birds. Outbreaks have declined from 59 in February to just three in April, allowing some stability in the egg supply.advertisementDavid L. Ortega, a food economics professor at Michigan State University, expects prices to continue falling through May and June due to seasonal declines in demand post-Easter and fewer bird flu outbreaks.However, risks remain. Even a single outbreak at a large-scale facility, such as those in Ohio and South Dakota last month that impacted over 927,000 hens, can disrupt supply. Rebuilding flocks is a lengthy process, taking up to a year.In response to the crisis, the US government has taken several steps. The USDA announced a USD 1 billion investment in February to boost farm biosecurity. Egg imports have also surged, rising 77.5 per cent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, with supplies coming from countries like South Korea, Brazil, and Turkey.Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is investigating Cal-Maine Foods—the nation's largest egg producer, which accounts for 20 per cent of the US market—over potential antitrust issues. The company, based in Ridgeland, Mississippi, reported a tripling of its net income to USD 508.5 million in the quarter ending March 1.(With input from the Associated Press)
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The Hindu
3 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Trump administration wants to end U.N. peacekeeping in Lebanon; Europe pushing back
The future of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon has split the United States and its European allies, raising implications for security in the Middle East and becoming the latest snag to vex relations between the U.S. and key partners like France, Britain and Italy. At issue is the peacekeeping operation known as UNIFIL, whose mandate expires at the end of August and will need to be renewed by the U.N. Security Council to continue. It was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel's 1978 invasion, and its mission was expanded following the month-long 2006 war between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah. The multinational force has played a significant role in monitoring the security situation in southern Lebanon for decades, including during the Israel-Hezbollah war last year, but has drawn criticism from both sides and numerous U.S. lawmakers, some of whom now hold prominent roles in President Donald Trump's administration or wield new influence with the White House. Trump administration political appointees came into office this year with the aim of shutting down UNIFIL as soon as possible. They regard the operation as an ineffectual waste of money that is merely delaying the goal of eliminating Hezbollah's influence and restoring full security control to the Lebanese Armed Forces that the government says it is not yet capable of doing. After securing major cuts in U.S. funding to the peacekeeping force, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed off early last week on a plan that would wind down and end UNIFIL in the next six months, according to Trump administration officials and congressional aides familiar with the discussions. It's another step as the Trump administration drastically pares back its foreign affairs priorities and budget, including expressing scepticism of international alliances and cutting funding to U.N. agencies and missions. The transatlantic divide also has been apparent on issues ranging from Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine conflict to trade, technology and free speech issues. Europeans push back against a quick end to U.N. peacekeeping in Lebanon Israel has for years sought an end to UNIFIL's mandate, and renewal votes have often come after weeks of political wrangling. Now, the stakes are particularly high after last year's war and more vigorous opposition in Washington. European nations, notably France and Italy, have objected to winding down UNIFIL. With the support of Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkiye and envoy to Lebanon, they successfully lobbied Rubio and others to support a one-year extension of the peacekeeping mandate followed by a time-certain wind-down period of six months, according to the administration officials and congressional aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic negotiations. Israel also reluctantly agreed to an extension, they said. The European argument was that prematurely ending UNIFIL before the Lebanese army is able to fully secure the border area would create a vacuum that Hezbollah could easily exploit. The French noted that when a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali was terminated before government troops were ready to deal with security threats, Islamic extremists moved in. With the U.S. easing off, the issue ahead of the U.N. vote expected at the end of August now appears to be resistance by France and others to setting a firm deadline for the operation to end after the one-year extension, according to the officials and congressional aides. French officials did not respond to requests for comment The final French draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, does not include a date for UNIFIL's withdrawal, which U.S. officials say is required for their support. Instead, it would extend the peacekeeping mission for one year and indicates the U.N. Security Council's 'intention to work on a withdrawal.' But even if the mandate is renewed, the peacekeeping mission might be scaled down for financial reasons, with the U.N. system likely facing drastic budget cuts, said a U.N. official, who was not authorised to comment to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. One of the U.S. officials said an option being considered was reducing UNIFIL's numbers while boosting its technological means to monitor the situation on the ground. The peacekeeping force has faced criticism There are about 10,000 peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, while the Lebanese army has around 6,000 soldiers, a number that is supposed to increase to 10,000. Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon have frequently accused the U.N. mission of collusion with Israel and sometimes attacked peacekeepers on patrol. Israel, meanwhile, has accused the peacekeepers of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah's military activities in southern Lebanon and lobbied for its mandate to end. Sarit Zehavi, a former Israeli military intelligence analyst and founder of the Israeli think tank Alma Research and Education Center, said UNIFIL has played a 'damaging role with regard to the mission of disarming Hezbollah in south Lebanon.' She pointed to the discovery of Hezbollah tunnels and weapons caches close to UNIFIL facilities during and after last year's Israel-Hezbollah war, when much of the militant group's senior leadership was killed and much of its arsenal destroyed. Hezbollah is now under increasing pressure to give up the rest of its weapons. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UNIFIL continues to discover unauthorised weapons, including rocket launchers, mortar rounds and bomb fuses, this week, which it reported to the Lebanese army. Under the U.S.- and France-brokered ceasefire, Israel and Hezbollah were to withdraw from southern Lebanon, with the Lebanese army taking control in conjunction with UNIFIL. Israel has continued to occupy five strategic points on the Lebanese side and carry out near-daily airstrikes that it says aim to stop Hezbollah from regrouping. Lebanon supports keeping U.N. peacekeepers Lebanese officials have called for UNIFIL to remain, saying the country's cash-strapped and overstretched army is not yet able to patrol the full area on its own until it. Retired Lebanese Army Gen. Khalil Helou said that if UNIFIL's mandate were to abruptly end, soldiers would need to be pulled away from the porous border with Syria, where smuggling is rife, or from other areas inside of Lebanon — 'and this could have consequences for the stability' of the country. UNIFIL 'is maybe not fulfilling 100% what the Western powers or Israel desire. But for Lebanon, their presence is important,' he said. The United Nations also calls the peacekeepers critical to regional stability, Mr. Dujarric said. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said deciding on the renewal of the mandate is the prerogative of the U.N. Security Council. 'We are here to assist the parties in implementation of the mission's mandate and we're waiting for the final decision,' he said.
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Business Standard
3 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Higher sales realisation, volume growth boost cement firms' earnings in Q1
Driven by increased government spending on key infrastructure projects, leading cement manufacturers reported a solid performance in the June quarter with a double-digit volume growth and higher sales realisation. Cement makers expect the trend of an overall improvement to continue in FY26. Moreover, lower input costs, such as a decline in coal and petcoke prices, along with stable diesel costs, also helped in improvement on Ebitda terms, which faced a rough patch in FY25. Leading cement maker UltraTech Cement reported a volume growth of 9.7 per cent to 36.83 million tonnes (MT), helped by acquisitions of India Cements and the cement business of Kesoram Industries. Similarly, Adani Group firm Ambuja Cements also reported its highest-ever cement sales volume of 18.4 MT and its highest-ever quarterly revenue at Rs 10,000 crore. Sales volume of Birla Corporation rose 9.36 per cent to 4.79 MT, and Nirma Group firm Nuvoco Vistas Corp reported a sales volume of 5.1 MMT in Q1. JK Lakshmi Cement's sales volume increased nearly 10 per cent. However, some companies, like Shree Cement, saw their volumes decline due to geopolitical tensions in the northern region. Dalmia Bharat's sales volume fell 5.8 per cent to 7.4 MT, impacted by the discontinuation of tolling volumes from Jaypee, while Ramco Cements reported a 7 per cent decline due to early monsoon rains in Kerala. In the earnings conference call, Ambuja Cement CEO Vinod Bahety said momentum is built on various factors, including strong value focus, robust volume growth, price improvement and deeper channel engagement. He expected the trend of price improvement and overall volume improvement to continue. UltraTech CFO Atul Daga in the earnings call said: "The government capex programme has shown a marked improvement in the first two months of this quarter on the low base of April-May 2024. We are seeing rising state government spending. States like Bihar, Andhra, Gujarat, and Maharashtra are doing much better than the other states year-on-year". The industry was also supported by the cement price increase. The all-India average cement price increased by 7 per cent year-on-year in June 2025 to Rs 355 per 50 kg bag. "In Q1 FY2026, the prices were up 7 per cent year-on-year at Rs 360/bag on account of price hikes undertaken by cement companies amid healthy demand. In FY2025, cement prices declined by 7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 340/bag," according to an Icra report. Moreover, in July, coal prices declined by 21 per cent year-on-year to USD 103/MT, and petcoke prices fell 3 per cent year-on-year to Rs 10,860/MT. "In 4M FY2026, the prices of coal were lower by 10 per cent year-on-year, while petcoke and diesel prices were stable on a year-on-year basis," Icra said, expecting the margins likely to "improve by 80-150 bps to 16.3-17.0 in FY2026 due to expected hike in cement prices and stable input costs". In the near term, the demand is expected to be flat due to the monsoon in the second quarter. However, companies are assured of growth after that, and aim to achieve a growth of around 7 per cent in FY26. "The cement demand grew by almost 4 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of FY26, driven by Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana, Bharat Mala, Sagar Mala and other INSA projects, and we remain bullish for this financial year. We are upping our demand estimate by 1 per cent from earlier 6-7 per cent to now 7-8 per cent," said Bahety. Dalmia Bharat MD and CEO Puneet Dalmia, in the earnings conference call, said: "Even with the early onset of monsoon, the spot prices of cement are holding up and are almost at a similar level to the Q1 average cement prices. We remain reasonably optimistic that these prices will hold".
Time of India
3 minutes ago
- Time of India
Trump says no imminent plans to penalise China for buying Russian oil
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he did not immediately need to consider retaliatory tariffs on countries such as China for buying Russian oil but might have to "in two or three weeks." Trump has threatened sanctions on Moscow and secondary sanctions on countries that buy its oil if no moves are made to end the war in Ukraine. China and India are the top two buyers of Russian oil. The president last week imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, citing its continued imports of Russian oil. However, Trump has not taken similar action against China. He was asked by Fox News' Sean Hannity if he was now considering such action against Beijing after he and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to produce an agreement to resolve or pause Moscow's war in Ukraine. "Well, because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that," Trump said after his summit with Putin in Alaska. "Now, I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don't have to think about that right now. I think, you know, the meeting went very well." Chinese President Xi Jinping's slowing economy will suffer if Trump follows through on a promise to ramp up Russia-related sanctions and tariffs. Xi and Trump are working on a trade deal that could lower tensions - and import taxes - between the world's two biggest economies. But China could be the biggest remaining target, outside of Russia, if Trump ramps up punitive measures.
