Latest news with #PaoloLaudani
Reuters
07-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
German industrial orders rise 3.6% in March
A view shows a steel production plant in Georgsmarienhuette, Germany, September 19, 2024. REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab May 7 (Reuters) - German industrial orders increased in March by 3.6% on the previous month on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, the federal statistics office said on Wednesday. A Reuters poll of analysts had pointed to a rise of 1.3%. The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here. The statistics office publishes more economic data on its website , opens new tab Reporting by Simon Ferdinand Eibach and Paolo Laudani, Editing by Rachel More Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab Share X Facebook Linkedin Email Link Purchase Licensing Rights
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lindt holds back on Canada supply shift, boosts local stocks
By Canan Sevgili and Paolo Laudani (Reuters) -Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli said it is still working out how to deal with the escalating trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump and has temporarily increased stocks in Canada to cushion the impact of tariffs. The company said in March it would supply chocolate made in Europe to Canada to avoid tariffs imposed to counter higher U.S. customs duties. But since March, there have been several changes to tariffs placed on imports and exports from the United States, prompting many companies to adopt a wait-and-see approach to the changing trading conditions. "We have not adjusted any sourcing strategy as the situation develops so fast," a Lindt spokesperson told Reuters in an email on Tuesday. "As soon as we have a clearer and more stable overview of the situation, we decide if and how to adjust our sourcing strategy." The spokesperson said that shifting sourcing of products sold in Canada to Europe was "one option that is being discussed", but the company has not yet decided how to proceed. "This was one of the options that was considered and can be implemented if necessary," the spokesperson said. Lindt said it had temporarily increased stock levels in Canada as a safeguard against potential supply disruptions in light of the imposed counter-tariffs on products imported from the United States. In March, Lindt said that 50% of its Canadian chocolate supply originated from the United States, but those volumes could be entirely shifted to Europe. Lindt produces 95% of its U.S. market chocolates in its five domestic factories, which also serve Canada. This month, Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut's chief executive said it was planning to increase its U.S.-based production to fend off effects of the "disruptive environment" in North America. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Barry Callebaut to scale up US production to cope with 'disruptive environment'
By Paolo Laudani and Isabel Demetz (Reuters) - Barry Callebaut is planning to increase its U.S.-based production to fend off effects of the "disruptive environment" in North America and stay close to its customers, the Swiss chocolate maker's chief executive said on Thursday. "We have one ... facility that we will scale out to about 100,000 tons in the United States that will allow us to actually serve customers better also in the U.S.," CEO Peter Feld said during a post-earnings call with analysts. He also said that the cocoa processor, which supplies chocolate for Unilever's soon-to-be-spun-off Magnum ice creams and Nestle's KitKat bars, was doubling down on investments in its plant in Brantford, Canada. Companies with operations in the United States are grappling with on-again, off-again tariff announcements from President Donald Trump, who in a stunning reversal on Wednesday paused most of his hefty duties but left a 10% blanket tariff on almost all U.S. imports. In March, chocolate maker Lindt said it would supply chocolate made in Europe to Canada to avoid Canadian tariffs imposed to counter the higher U.S. customs duties. North America made up more than one-tenth of Barry Callebaut's global sales volume measured in metric tons in the 2023/24 financial year. "We believe that we've seen the worst quarter behind us," Feld said after the world's biggest chocolatier lowered its annual volume guidance as part of its half-year update, which sent its shares down to twelve-year lows.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
European truck shares fall on US electric vehicle rule reversal
By Paolo Laudani and Ozan Ergenay (Reuters) -Shares in European truck makers fell on Thursday after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it would move to reverse the Biden administration's vehicle emissions rules. European truck makers' sales slowed last year from a record 2023. However, analysts said fleet firms had been expected to "pre-buy" trucks in the second half of this year and 2026 before the emissions rules took effect, but that was now unlikely. "Given the EPA's latest comments, the market likely assumes the tighter regulations will be reversed, meaning there is no longer an expectation of a pre-purchase surge," Pal Skirta, an analyst at German broker Metzler, told Reuters. Skirta, as well as a Daimler Truck spokesperson, told Reuters this was the main reason behind the drop in share prices. Daimler Truck was the biggest faller, down 5% and the worst performer on Germany's blue-chip index. "Our top management will elaborate in more detail on the subject tomorrow during our annual results conference," the spokesperson said. Arne Rautenberg, a fund manager at Union Investment which owns shares in Daimler, told Reuters the rollback would limit the expected buying cycle and therefore reduce expectations, at least for 2025. "This announcement is bad news not just from an ESG perspective but also from a fundamental perspective," he said. The EPA is also reconsidering a 2022 regulation that aims to drastically cut smog- and soot-forming emissions from heavy-duty trucks, saying the rule makes trucks more expensive. The United States is the most important market for Daimler, which has invested heavily in emission-free drive systems with a view to climate protection goals and corresponding regulations. Its Swedish rival Volvo Group considers North America its second largest market, accounting for over 30% of net sales. Shares of Volvo and Germany's Traton, a Volkswagen subsidiary, were down around 3% by 1233 GMT. A Volvo spokesperson declined to comment on either the potential regulation change or the effect on demand, calling both speculation for now, but said it was following the political process. "It is normally much cheaper to produce in a demand-driven economy rather than a politically-driven economy," the spokesperson added.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Five years on, the economic impact of COVID-19 lingers
By Canan Sevgili, Paolo Laudani, Alessandro Parodi and Alberto Chiumento (Reuters) - Five years after the World Health Organization first described the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic, its effects are still being felt on the global economy. COVID-19 and efforts to contain it triggered record government debt, hit labour markets and shifted consumer behaviour. Inequality has increased, while remote work, digital payments and changes in travel patterns have endured. Though the immediate shock has passed, COVID-19's legacy continues to reshape global economies and markets. Here are some of the main impacts. After countries borrowed money to protect welfare and livelihoods, global government debt has risen by 12 percentage points since 2020, with steeper increases seen in emerging markets. The pandemic sparked high levels of inflation, which proved to be a major concern in the 2024 U.S. elections. Fuelled by post-lockdown spending, government stimulus packages and shortages of labour and raw materials, inflation peaked in many countries in 2022. To offset rising prices, central banks raised interest rates, though the intensity of their interventions varied widely. Sovereign credit ratings, which reflect a country's ability to pay back its debts, were driven lower as economies were shuttered and governments took on huge amounts of extra debt to fill the holes left in public finances. Data from Fitch Ratings shows the average global sovereign credit score remains a quarter of a notch lower than it was when the pandemic started, reflecting financial challenges made worse by the pandemic, inflation and stricter financial conditions. For less wealthy emerging market countries, the average remains roughly half a notch lower. Lower credit ratings generally translate into higher borrowing costs on international capital markets. The pandemic caused millions of job losses, with poorer households and women hit hardest, according to the World Bank. As lockdowns eased, employment regained momentum but with a considerable shift towards sectors such as hospitality and logistics due to the growing retail delivery sector. Women's participation in the workforce fell in 2020, mostly due to female over-representation in hard-hit sectors like accommodation, food services and manufacturing, and the burden of caring for children staying home from school. However, the gender employment gap has slightly decreased since, data shows. Travel and leisure habits also changed. While people travel and eat out as much as they did in 2019, an increase of work-from-home has reduced commuting in major cities such as London. In London, use of both tubes and buses remains at around a million fewer journeys a day than pre-pandemic. The airline sector was one of those hit worst by the pandemic, recording industry-wide losses of $175 billion in 2020, according to the global airlines body IATA. Vaccination campaigns eventually resulted in the lifting of travel restrictions, allowing people back on planes. For 2025, IATA expects an industry-wide net profit of $36.6 billion and a record 5.2 billion passengers. But travellers must contend with prices of hotel rooms which in many regions have outpaced inflation and remain well above 2019 levels. In the first half of 2023, Oceania, the continent in the southern hemisphere that includes Australia and smaller nations like Tonga and Fiji, saw the highest price increases from the same period of 2019, followed by North America, Latin America and Europe, according to data from Lighthouse Platform. Despite minor fluctuations, there is little indication that global hotel prices will return to pre-pandemic norms. Office vacancy rates are also at record highs in many countries, the result of more remote and flexible work. In the U.S., central business districts had the largest rise in vacancies, which are still evident today. New consumer trends developed during global lockdowns, as home-bound consumers often had no other option than to shop online. This caused an uptick in online purchases from 2020 that has since stabilised. Analysts say that in Europe the rise in online sales has been coupled with an increase in selling space, as retailers invest in physical shops to stimulate both online and offline sales. The space, measured in square metres, edged up almost 1% from 2022 to 2023, an increase that should extend to 2.7% by 2028, data from market research company Euromonitor shows. Shares in digital and delivery firms led gains during the pandemic, alongside those of vaccine-making pharmaceutical companies. Five years on, some pandemic-era gainers have lost most of their appeal, but others have enjoyed lasting gains as new markets enabled by the digital shift have opened up. Despite the bursting of some bubbles and the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, which left the industry reeling, the value of Bitcoin has increased by 1,233% since December 2019, as people looked at new investment opportunities to cut the risk of market volatility. Stuck at home and with more cash on hand, people also began investing more, with roughly 27% of total U.S. equity trading coming from retail investors in December 2020. Stockbroker TD Ameritrade took the biggest slice of the cake before being acquired by Charles Schwab in a $26 billion deal. Another platform which gained popularity during the retail trading boom of 2021 is Robinhood, which became the platform of choice for people to pump money into meme stocks. Sign in to access your portfolio
