Gautam Adani's conglomerate could find it harder to get funding following a U.S. arrest warrant for its billionaire founder, with some banks considering halting fresh credit to the Indian group due to an alleged $265 million bribery scheme. Some global banks are considering temporarily halting fresh credit to the Adani Group after the U.S. indictment but maintaining existing loans, sources told Reuters. Ratings agency S&P warned in a statement that the group will need regular access to equity and debt markets given its large growth plans, but it might find fewer takers. "We believe domestic, as well as some international banks and bond market investors, look at Adani entities as a group, and could set group limits on their exposure," it said. However, S&P added that the rated entities have "no immediate and lumpy" debt maturities. 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Research firm CreditSights highlighted refinancing for the conglomerate's green energy business, which is at the centre of the allegations, as its biggest near-term concern. Bonds issued by the Adani Group dropped sharply for a second day on Friday and although the shares of some Adani firms clawed back some of Thursday's losses, the overall market value of all 10 stocks has dropped by $27.9 billion over two sessions. Adani Green Energy, which is at the centre of the U.S. allegations, has lost nearly $7 billion of its value. U.S. authorities have charged Adani and seven other people with agreeing to pay bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts that could yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years as well as to develop India's largest solar power project. Adani Group has said the accusations as well as those levelled by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a parallel civil case are "baseless and denied" and that it will seek "all possible legal recourse". Some analysts said the fallout was unlikely to be limited to the Adani group of companies. "India's renewable energy sector, a critical pillar for global climate goals, may face reduced international investment as a result of this controversy," said Nimish Maheshwari, an independent analyst who publishes on Smartkarma. "Investors may demand greater transparency and due diligence, slowing down the pace of project financing." The Securities and Exchange Board of India, the country's market regulator, is making preliminary checks to see if disclosures made by Adani entities were inadequate and if they breached local market regulations, a SEBI official told Reuters. SEBI did not respond to a request for comment. The regulator has completed a separate investigation into the group, but not yet issued orders, after Hindenburg Research in January 2023 alleged improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation, which the group has denied. Falls in Adani dollar bond prices on Friday included a 2.5c drop on the dollar for 2029 Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone bonds. At 87.8c, they are down more than 5c over the two sessions. Longer-dated maturities have fallen around 5c in two days and trade just below 80c. Adani Transmission and Adani Electricity Mumbai bond prices had similar declines. Investors are also watching to see if more Adani deals could be scuttled after Kenya cancelled a procurement process worth nearly $2 billion that had been widely expected to award control of the country's main airport to the group. It also nixed a 30-year, $736-million public-private partnership deal that an Adani Group firm signed with the energy ministry last month to construct power transmission lines. Adani Green also cancelled a scheduled $600 million U.S. bond sale. U.S. prosecutors say Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and others bribed Indian officials to gain business advantages in renewable energy projects in India that benefited Adani Green and a company called Azure Power, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange until late 2023. They are also accused of making misleading statements to the public, including U.S. investors, despite being made aware of the U.S. investigation in 2023. Adani has not appeared in public or commented on social media since the indictment and his whereabouts remain unclear. Indian authorities have not responded to opposition calls for a probe into the indictment, which came not long after Adani raised $1.5 billion through two share sales by flagship firm Adani Enterprises and power distribution arm Adani Energy Solutions. (Reporting by Scott Murdoch and Tom Westbrook; Additional reporting by Chris Thomas, Ira Dugal, Aditya Kalra and Krishna Das; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Alexander Smith) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
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The little-known beauty websites where you can buy make-up and skincare including Charlotte Tilbury and Dior for 70% offBOISE — Milk and beef remain revenue leaders in Idaho agriculture as producers contend with inflationary constraints. In an Agricultural Outlook Seminar hosted by the University of Idaho on Wednesday, industry leaders and academics discussed their expectations for 2025. Based on current projections, the state is poised to meet a number of all-time highs across the agricultural sector as it continues to contend with inflationary prices. “Idaho is a relatively small economy in the scheme of things, but very big in terms of agriculture,” said Brett Wilder, area extension educator and assistant professor at the University of Idaho, who provided a statewide outlook for 2024 and 2025. In 2023, the state ranked 38th in total gross domestic product, but 19th in total farm GDP. Historically, the state has been fifth in the nation in terms of farm GDP as a total contribution to the state, with 1 in 9 of the state's jobs being in the agribusiness sector, Wilder said. In total, agribusiness accounts for 17% of the state’s economic output and in terms of total cash receipts — generated from sales — the 2024 fiscal year is estimated to bring in $11.3 billion in agricultural cash receipts statewide, Wilder said. “The biggest component of that is milk,” Wilder said. Milk accounts for $3.8 billion of the state’s cash receipts, up 10% from a year ago, Wilder said. Looking ahead to next year, the biggest gains in the dairy sector nationwide are expected to be in cheese production, as the industry contends with a “100 million pound cheese deficit across the country,” Dustin Winston, StoneX Financial commodity market analyst, said. Though Idaho’s cheese production is limited to a singular processing facility, 60% of Idaho’s milk is dedicated to cheese production, which would mean more direct impacts for Idaho stemming from this national push, Wilder said. An additional $2.8 billion comes from cattle and calves, accounting for 25% of the state’s agricultural cash receipts. Continued demand for both importing and exporting beef is expected to keep retail prices higher, as the industry nationwide is in “contraction,” Wilder said. “The industry terminology which means that we’re going to see tighter supplies and probably higher prices both for live animals and for the consumer,” Wilder said, adding that while demand has been historically strong, the consumer's willingness to pay higher prices into next year remains unknown. A pivoting irrigation system stands over a green field at the Boise’s Twenty Mile South Farm in this April 2019 file photo. Idaho ranked 19th in the U.S. in total farm gross domestic product in 2023. On the crop side, sugar beets are also estimated to be at an all-time high of $70 million in cash receipts, up from $69 million in the prior year. Nursery crops are also expected to see a small increases as well, Wilder said. Since 2000, in inflation-adjusted dollars, the nation has improved 60% in terms of cash receipts from agriculture compared to Idaho improving 90% over the same period. Wilder said that the state's performance is largely attributed to milk, which has cash receipts up 190% over the same period. With rising costs, however, these numbers don’t tell the full story, he said. “Even though we’re projecting a new all-time high in cash receipts ... it feels like a counterfeit number,” Wilder said. The difference between today’s dollars and inflation-adjusted cash receipts show a 25% gap, so while there are both technological and efficiency improvements across the agricultural sector, it remains difficult for these improvements to be implemented “at a pace that keeps up with the rate of inflation,” Wilder said. SHIFTING COSTS According to a Purdue University survey of agricultural producers’ sentiments, many are concerned about the ongoing impacts of inflation. The October survey found that a third of respondents said high input costs were their No. 1 concern. Looking back, this sentiment has remained quite consistent over the past 12 months, Xiaoli Etienne, University of Idaho associate professor and Idaho Wheat Commission Endowed Chair, said. While next year is projected to have the fourth-highest input costs on record — behind only 2022, 2023 and 2024 — the breakdown for individual inputs is more nuanced. The price of oil, for example, is expected to maintain its present downward trend into 2025. U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts predict oil prices to fall to $69 per barrel next year, down from the average of $76 per barrel seen in 2024. This is attributed to supply from countries outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), including the United States, Brazil and Canada. China’s shift to clean energy as well as policies from Donald Trump’s incoming administration that are expected to be more favorable for the energy sector are also expected to factor into the price decrease, Etienne said. “Most likely you will see more drilling activities taking place and also less regulatory constraint,” Etienne said. A farmer cultivates a field off Homedale Road near Caldwell in April of 2022. Domestic fertilizer production is forecasted to mitigate effects of projected natural gas price hikes. Natural gas, on the other hand, is expected to have a significant increase in price over the previous year. Though the price spiked in 2022 following the onset of the Russia-Ukraine War, the price has since plummeted and remained relatively stable since. Prices could approach $4 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) — compared to its current average of just under $3 MMBtu — in part due to continued investment into exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) out of the U.S., that is expected to increase demand, Etienne said. While this could be felt in the state’s electricity costs, of which more than a quarter comes from natural gas, the change could also have downstream effects on farmers since natural gas is a key ingredient in nitrogen-based fertilizers. Increased domestic fertilizer production over the next few years, however, is expected to mitigate these effects, Etienne said. For Idaho’s farmland, value increased an average of 5% in 2023 and 2024. The Federal Reserve, however, is continuing to lower interest rates — the Associated Press reported a 0.25% interest rate cut Wednesday — an outcome that is expected to ease some of the economic burden for agricultural producers. Whether it will be enough to reduce the effects of diminishing supply due to increased urbanization, however, remains to be seen, Etienne said. Looking ahead to next year, labor costs are expected to be a significant variable that the agriculture industry will need to grapple with. In 2024, average wages for all hired workers increased 3% and is expected to see a similar increase as the state contends with a shortage of workers, Etienne said. LEGISLATIVE FUTURE Compared to economic forecasting, the future direction of the Idaho Legislature is a bit harder to predict. The previous legislative session brought a number of positive outcomes for Idaho's agriculture producers. HB 592 provided compensation for livestock lost to grizzly bears and wolves and funded prevention measures against future losses. HB 608 established agricultural protection areas, which requires counties to take into account agricultural producers with five or more acres of active production when making development plans, Dexton Lake, Idaho Farm Bureau Federation government affairs representative, said. The biggest piece of agricultural legislation that failed to pass was SB1245 , which would have shielded pesticide manufacturers from lawsuits over health issues that arose over using their products if their products had appropriate warning labels that were in line with federal regulation. Lake described the bill as a "common sense bill" that says individuals can't sue about something they've already been warned about. Lake said the future success of similar legislation that benefits the agriculture sector is dependent on continuing to educate legislators on key issues for the sector and on stakeholders making their voices heard. “If we want agriculture to continue to have the voice that it does, people have got to speak on its behalf who work in the industry,” Lake said. “Unless they hear from you, from those people, they’re not going to assume that they have an issue with whatever might be coming down the pipeline.”
The New York Yankees shored up their pitching staff with one big move Tuesday, agreeing to terms with left-hander Max Fried on an eight-year, $218 million contract according to multiple reports. Jeff Passan of ESPN was the first to report the agreement. BREAKING: Left-hander Max Fried and the New York Yankees are in agreement on a eight-year, $218 million contract, pending physical, sources tell ESPN. It is the largest guarantee in baseball history for a left-handed pitcher. Fried, 30, was the best left-hander — if not the best pitcher — remaining on the free agent market. He went 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA in 29 starts last season for the Atlanta Braves. Since debuting with Atlanta in 2017, he's 73-36 with a 3.07 ERA in 168 games (151 starts). The seventh overall pick in the 2012 MLB draft, Fried also garnered interest from the Boston Red Sox before agreeing to terms with the Yankees, according to multiple reports from the Winter Meetings on Tuesday. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Fried's contract is pending a physical and will be the largest ever for a left-hander — fourth-largest ever for a pitcher — in baseball history once it's official. Source confirms: Max Fried to Yankees, eight years, $218M, pending physical. Biggest deal for a left-hander and fourth largest pitching contract in game’s history. First: @JeffPassan The Yankees were looking to improve a starting rotation that went 65-48 in 2024 but benefitted tremendously from a lineup that included Juan Soto and American League MVP Aaron Judge. Soto agreed to the largest contract in baseball history Sunday with the New York Mets, a 15-year, $765 million pact that sent shockwaves through the New York market and the entire industry. The Yankees were quick to strike back. More news: After Juan Soto Signs With Mets, What's Next for Yankees? Fried joins a staff that includes right-handers Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman, and left-hander Carlos Rodon to form one of baseball's best 1-5 rotations. More than the contract's average annual value ($27.25 million), it's the duration of the contract that raises the bar for free agent starters. Fried turns 31 in January and will be under contract through age 38 — a time when most starting pitchers are winding down their careers in a bullpen somewhere, if not already retired. More news: Why Juan Soto Chose the Mets: Former GM Sets Record Straight Durability has not been one of Fried's strong suits to this point in his career. The 2024 season marked only the fourth time he's exceeded 120 innings since his debut season in 2017. Still, when healthy, Fried is among the most effective pitchers in the game with a career ERA+ of 140. Fried made the National League All-Star teams in 2022 and 2024, finished in the top five in Cy Young voting in 2020 and 2022, and won three Gold Glove awards (2020-22) along the way. More news: Dodgers, Free Agent Close on New Contract as Yankees, Red Sox Lurk: Report At Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, Fried played alongside Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito and free agent right-hander Jack Flaherty. In November , Giolito was asked about potentially recruiting Fried to Boston. "I feel like I've said everything that can be said," Giolito told Rob Bradford on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast . "At the end of the day you've got to pay the guy. You've got to pay the man. Look at his body of work. Look at his career. You know what he's worth. You've got to be willing to pay, that's what it comes down to, and I think there are a number of teams that are willing to pay." The Yankees, it seems, were willing to pay a lot. More to come on this story from Newsweek Sports.China’s Defence Ministry criticised a recent US Pentagon report on its military, calling it a distortion of China’s defence policies and interference in internal affairs. The annual report, released Wednesday, highlighted issues of corruption within the Chinese military, noting that at least 15 senior officers and defence executives were ousted between July and December 2023, potentially disrupting Beijing’s 2027 modernisation goals. Despite advancements in military capabilities, the report stated that corruption continues to pose significant challenges to China’s armed forces development. Here are the key takeaways about the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from the report: China’s navy – the largest in the world – has more than 370 ships and submarines, up from the approximately 340 that the Pentagon said China had in its 2022 report. The navy has also continued to “grow its ability” to perform missions beyond the first island chain – which includes Japan’s Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines – it added. China’s stockpile of operational nuclear warheads has also increased from more than 500 last year to more than 600 in 2024, the report said. It will have more than 1,000 by 2030, the Pentagon said, as Beijing pushes “to modernize, diversify, and expand its nuclear forces rapidly”. This, it said, would enable China to “target more US cities, military facilities, and leadership sites than ever before in a potential nuclear conflict”. The PLA’s air force is “rapidly approaching technology” up to US standards, the report said. It is “modernising and indigenising” its aircraft, as well as unmanned aerial systems. China is also developing new intercontinental ballistic missiles that will “significantly improve” its nuclear-capable missile forces and require increased nuclear warhead production, the report said. The country also “probably completed” the construction of three new silo fields in 2022, which would contain at least 300 new ICBM silos where it has loaded some of the missiles. Beijing may also be exploring the development of conventionally armed intercontinental-range missile systems that could threaten the United States, it added. China is looking to expand its overseas infrastructure and logistics to “project and sustain military power at greater distances” beyond its base in Djibouti, the Pentagon said. The PLA has likely considered having military logistics facilities in countries from Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh to Kenya and Nigeria, among others. A global Chinese military logistics network could “disrupt” US operations, the report added. China “amplified” its diplomatic, political and military pressure against Taiwan in 2023, the report said. The country “continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics”, it added. This includes maintaining a naval presence around the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its own territory; increasing crossings into Taiwan’s self-declared centerline and air defence identification zone; and conducting highly publicised major military exercises nearby. Citing data from Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, the Pentagon reported an increase in Chinese airplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait centerline in 2023. With inputs from agencies.2024 in pop culture: In a bruising year, we sought out fantasy, escapism — and cute little animals