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Tata Steel threatens to shut Port Talbot blast furnaces early over strikes

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Tata Steel, Britain’s biggest steel producer, has threatened to shut down its two blast furnaces in south Wales from as early as next week unless workers from the Unite union call off a strike. 

The Indian-owned group operates two of Britain’s last remaining such facilities at Port Talbot and had been planning to close one of them by the end of June and the second by September. 

Tata said on Thursday that due to the strike, which is set to start on July 8, it might have to begin the process of closing both from July 1 for safety reasons. They would then be permanently shut no later than July 7.

“If in the coming days, we cannot be certain that we are able to continue to safely and stably operate our assets through the period of strike action, we will not have any choice but to pause or stop heavy end operations (including both blast furnaces) on the Port Talbot site,” the company said. 

Tata also said it had started legal action against Unite, challenging the validity of the strike ballot. 

Unite said last week that about 1,500 workers would begin an indefinite strike from July 8. Members of the union in April voted for industrial action for the first time in 40 years in protest at Tata’s decision to shut both furnaces this year. The closures would result in up to 2,800 job losses and are part of a government-funded plan to shift to production using an electric arc furnace requiring fewer workers. 

Rajesh Nair, chief executive of Tata Steel UK, told employees in a message on Thursday that closing the two furnaces early would have “major implications for our company”.

The company, he said, had proposed to Unite a set of outline exemptions “from the strike action to explore whether minimum levels of service and support could be maintained to enable ironmaking, steelmaking . . . to continue to operate safely”.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said Tata’s statement was the “latest in a long line of threats that won’t deter us”. 

Unite, added Graham, had “secured serious investment from Labour to safeguard jobs” and called on Tata executives in India to “take hold of this dispute . . . [and] negotiate”. 

Labour has promised to cut a better deal for the industry if it wins the general election on July 4.

The party

IMF says Fed should hold interest rates where they are until ‘at least’ end of year

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during the 2024 CNBC CEO Council Summit in Washington, D.C. on June 4, 2024. Shannon Finney | CNBC

The Federal Reserve should wait to cut interest rates until “at least” the end of the year, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund. The U.S. is the only G20 economy to see growth above pre-pandemic levels, and “robust” growth indicates ongoing upside risks to inflation, the 190-country agency said.

“We do recognize important upside risks,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said at a press briefing on Thursday. “Given those risks, we agree that the Fed should keep policy rates at current levels until at least late 2024.” The Fed’s current fed funds rate has stood within the range of 5.25% to 5.50% since July 2023.

The IMF, often called the world’s “lender of last resort,” forecasts that the core personal consumption expenditures price index — the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation — will end 2024 at around 2.5% and reach the Fed’s 2% target rate by mid-2025, ahead of the Fed’s own projection for 2026.

U.S. economic strength during the Fed’s rate-hike cycle was aided by labor supply and productivity gains, Georgieva said, while highlighting the need for “clear evidence” that inflation is coming down to the 2% target before the Fed cuts rates.

Nonetheless, the IMF’s “more optimistic” assessment of the downward inflation trajectory is based on indications of a cooling labor market in the U.S. and weakening consumer demand.

“I want to recognize that a lesson we learned from the last [few] years is we are at a time of more uncertainty. This uncertainty also lies ahead. We are confident, however, that the Fed will move through that, and certainly with the same prudence it has demonstrated over the last year,” Georgieva said.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated Kristalina Georgieva’s name.

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There’s a big Fed inflation reading coming Friday. Here’s what to expect

The personal consumption expenditures price index, an inflation measure the Federal Reserve watches closely, is expected to show little, if any, monthly increase for May. When stripping out volatile food and energy prices, the core PCE price index is set to indicate its lowest annual reading since March 2021. The Commerce Department releases the inflation readings, along with reports on personal income and spending, Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET. People purchase beverages in a store on a sweltering afternoon in Brooklyn, New York, on the first day of summer on June 21, 2024. Spencer Platt | Getty Images

There could be some pretty good inflation news on the way from the Commerce Department when it releases a key economic report Friday.

The personal consumption expenditures price index, an inflation measure the Federal Reserve watches closely, is expected to show little, if any, monthly increase for May, the first time that would be the case since November 2023.

But even more importantly, when stripping out volatile food and energy prices, the core PCE price index, which draws even closer scrutiny from Fed policymakers, is set to indicate its lowest annual reading since March 2021.

If that date rings a bell, it’s when core PCE first passed the Fed’s coveted 2% inflation target during this cycle. Despite a series of aggressive interest rate increases since then, the central bank has yet to wrest the pace of price increases back into its target range.

The official Dow Jones forecasts for Friday’s numbers are for the headline, or all-item, PCE price reading to come in flat on the month, while core is projected to rise 0.1%. That would compare to respective increases of 0.3% and 0.2% in April. Both headline and core are forecast at 2.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Should the core PCE price forecasts transpire, it will serve as a milestone of sorts.

“We are in line with [the forecast] that the PCE core pricing data will come in soft,” said Beth Ann Bovino, chief economist at U.S. Bank. “That’s good news for the Fed. It’s also good for people’s pocketbooks, although I don’t know if people feel it just yet.”

Indeed, while the rate of inflation has receded precipitously from its mid-2022 peak, prices have not. Since that March 2021 benchmark, core PCE is up 14%.

That

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Key Elections in 2024: Winners, Losers, Upcoming Polls

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June 27, 2024 Graphics/Design:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Use This Visualization

Key Elections in 2024: Winners, Losers, Upcoming Polls

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Over 60 countries were expected to go to polls at the start of this year, amounting to nearly half of the world’s population.

This graphic lists the key elections that have taken place in 2024, its winners, and the three big upcoming elections slated for the second half of this year.

Elections 2024: Who Won What So Far?

In the six big elections to start 2024, four incumbents held on to power. This list includes: Sheikh Hasina (Bangladesh), Shehbaz Sharif (Pakistan), Narendra Modi (India) and Vladimir Putin (Russia).

However, the Russian and Bangladeshi elections had little to no opposition candidates, casting a shadow on the electoral process.

MonthElectionsWinnersDesignation January🇧🇩 BangladeshSheikh HasinaPrime Minister February🇮🇩 IndonesiaPrabowo SubiantoPresident Feb-March🇵🇰 PakistanShehbaz Sharif*Prime Minister March🇷🇺 RussiaVladimir PutinPresident April-June🇮🇳 IndiaNarendra ModiPrime Minister June🇲🇽 MexicoClaudia Sheinbaum PardoPresident

*Independents backed by the opposition won the most parliamentary seats but did not form the government.

Meanwhile in Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was re-elected to office.

However, the country’s election comission ruled that the opposition PTI party had not held valid internal elections, forcing its candidates to stand as independents. While they informally won the most number of seats in parliament (92), they still fell short of forming a majority.

Across the world, former governor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo was elected president and will be Mexico’s first woman president.

India’s Narendra Modi was re-elected for a third term but was forced to rely on a coalition to form the government.

In Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, businessman and former defense minister was elected president. Subianto has been accused of human rights abuses during his military career and was once banned from entering the United States.

Major Upcoming Elections in 2024

On June 9th, French President Emmanuel Macron called a snap legislative election after dismal results

Chewy stock pops 34% after Roaring Kitty posts a dog picture, then gives it all back

A photo illustration of the Chewy logo is seen on a smartphone and a PC screen. Pavlo Gonchar | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Chewy shares rallied dramatically on Thursday after meme stock leader Roaring Kitty posted a picture on social media platform X that resembles the logo of the online pet food retailer, but the gains were quickly erased later in the session.

Roaring Kitty, whose legal name is Keith Gill, has stirred up trading in speculative names such as GameStop by posting cryptic images and memes online. A picture of a cartoon dog appeared on his X feed Thursday afternoon, briefly driving up Chewy shares as much as 34% to $39.10.

The stock later fell into negative territory again in Thursday’s session, dipping 0.5%.

Loading chart…

There’s also a strong connection between meme stock GameStop and Chewy. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen was the founder and CEO of Chewy, who was instrumental in PetSmart’s takeover of Chewy in 2017 and its subsequent initial public offering in 2019.

Cohen joined the GameStop board of directors along with two other Chewy executives in January 2021, partly helping fuel the initial GameStop rally. He later took over as GameStop CEO in 2023, leading a turnaround in the brick-and-mortar video game retailer.

Shares in pet retailers such as Chewy and Petco saw big spikes during the pandemic when stuck-at-home consumers adopted cats and dogs in droves. With the adoptions came purchases of needed accessories such as new beds and leashes for their furry family members.

But as the pandemic ended and people began venturing outside again, adoption numbers slowed and consumers had less need for discretionary pet items such as toys and cages, which carry higher profit margins than pet food.

Over the past year or so, Chewy and Petco have seen consistently strong pet food sales, but revenue for higher margin categories has fallen.

Gill is a former marketer for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance. He came into the limelight after successfully encouraging retail investors to buy GameStop shares and call options in 2021 to squeeze out short-selling hedge funds. The mania in 2021 led to a series of congressional hearings featuring Gill in brokers’ practices and the “gamification” of retail trading.

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Three Reasons Why Direct Lithium Extraction Could Fuel the Next Decade of EVs

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June 27, 2024 Article & Editing Graphics & Design Why Direct Lithium Extraction Could Power the Next Decade of EVs

Transport is changing, and with more and more EVs zipping through the streets, lithium is fast becoming one of the world’s most critical minerals because of its importance for batteries.

However, mining and refining lithium is complicated, time-consuming, and potentially environmentally damaging. 

So, for this graphic, Visual Capitalist has partnered with EnergyX to explore three reasons why direct lithium extraction (DLE), an efficient method of mining and refining lithium, could help power the next decade of EVs.

1: DLE Cuts Extraction Times

Over 40 million EVs will be sold annually by 2030, over 10 times the amount sold in 2022, placing incredible demand on lithium production.

YearEV Sales Total 20203,158,700 202314,385,660 2025F22,449,800 2030F44,702,000 2035F64,280,000

Typically, extracting a metric ton of lithium takes between 18 and 24 months using conventional methods. However, using direct lithium extraction, the same amount can be sourced in as little as one or two days, making it much more efficient in supplying the lithium to power the next wave of EVs. 

2: DLE Could Bridge the Lithium Supply Gap

The incredible demand placed on the lithium industry could also lead to an over 1.4 million metric ton supply deficit by 2030 if no additional production is brought online.

2030 Supply2030 Demand LCE (million metric tons)1.643.06

EnergyX’s proprietary direct lithium extraction technology, LiTAS™, can increase lithium production by up to 300% over conventional methods and potentially improve lithium supplies. 

3: DLE Improves Battery Capacity

Blocks of lithium batteries power many EVs, so as these vehicles become more advanced and more people drive them, the demand for higher-density lithium batteries will only grow. In fact, between 2022 and 2030, the demand for energy stored by lithium batteries will increase by 27% annually.

YearBattery Demand (GWh) 2022700 20251,700 20304,700

EnergyX’s DLE technology, LiTAS™, which enables lithium metals to be applied directly to a battery’s anode, can significantly improve energy density and pave the way for the

Cocoa prices tumble as African crop fears ease

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SEC’s use of in-house courts curbed by US Supreme Court

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Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Walgreens Boots Alliance, Levi Strauss, International Paper and more