Daily Archives: October 1, 2021

A 6.9 per cent in food prices and a 36.5 per cent average growth in domestic fuel prices resulted in a positive inflation rate in August after hovering in negative territory for most of the past 20 months.

As per the forecast from the Reserve Bank of Fiji, the year-end inflation is expected to increase to 2.0 per cent.

The RBF Governor and board chairman Ariff Ali said the recent opening of borders within Viti Levu and the planned resumption of international travel later this year should augur well for the Fijian economy in the last quarter of 2021.

He said the latest sectoral data revealed better annual performances for the resource-based sectors, particularly timber, gold, and mineral water production, while COVID-19 related disruptions continue to impact both the services and industrial sectors.

In a statement yesterday Mr Ali said financial conditions remained accommodative with liquidity levels at $1.6 billion with foreign reserves at comfortable levels at around $3.2b which was sufficient to cover 11.0 months of retained imports.

According to the RBF the comfortable level of foreign reserves with the quantitative easing measures of the RBF including through the Disaster Rehabilitation and Containment Facility, would ensure that liquidity remains ample and supportive of a low-interest rate environment in the near term.

Commercial banks lending rates and cost of funds have broadly declined since the beginning of the year.

Mr Ali said they agreed to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate at 0.25 per, adding that the RBF would continue to monitor global and domestic economic developments and align monetary policy as and when required.

Continued here:

Increase in food prices, inflation rise by 2.0pc - Fiji Times

If youre not a regular TASS reader, you might have missed news from the U.S. government: Russia is now our No. 2 foreign oil supplier. The United States buys twice as much oil from Russia as we produce in Alaska.

Russia has more than doubled its U.S. sales since President BidenJoe BidenArizona Democrats, activists eye protential primary challenge to Sinema over Biden agenda, filibuster Biden and the Border Patrol: So good to have the 'adults' back in charge Dental coverage for Medicare recipients divides parties MORE took office. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), in June alone, Russia sold us more than 25 million barrels. Russian President Vladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich PutinRussia sees record high COVID-19 deaths in one day Former aide says Trump told Putin at summit he was going to act tougher 'for the cameras' Milley discussed Putin offer to use Russian bases to monitor Afghanistan: report MOREs recent U.S. market share gain is thus equal to the entire current output of Alaskas oil and gas industry, where production has fallen 75 percent from its 1988 peak.

Just last year, this news might have generated shock and consternation, particularly because the Treasury Department sanctions parts of the Russian energy industry to try to change behavior. But whose behavior? The United States also has become Russias single-biggest customer for heavy-oil products.

With U.S. energy independence fading in the rearview mirror, policymakers need to wake up about how to protect national security interests.

Of the destructive actions taken by the Biden administration to date, one of the most invidious has been to purge independent federal agencies, commissions and boards that dispense important policy.

To be sure, these are not administration positions that Biden has sheer constitutional authority to appoint upon assuming office these are positions set for a term of years that stretch beyond the presidential cycle. Until Biden, these terms have been respected. Contrary to Washington norms, Bidens smothering of dissenting views is par for the course in the same autocratic countries upon whom we find ourselves increasingly reliant to supply our basic needs.

The presence of independent policy experts dispensing advice to Congress, free from political control by the White House, is a longstanding, vital mechanism ensuring continuity and guarding against authoritarian overreach. Former President TrumpDonald TrumpBiden and the Border Patrol: So good to have the 'adults' back in charge Lawmakers ask Air Force to 'pause all actions' on Space Command move Running against Trump is tried and true, but is Biden 'mentally sharp' enough for the job? MORE, routinely caricatured for the same, respected the Obama appointees on independent boards who served out their terms and provided advice that was often at complete odds with Trumps administration. Biden has taken the opposite tack. But who pays the price for Bidens impetuousness? Who benefits?

For its part, Alaska finds itself struggling with a yawning budget deficit that limits its ability to subsidize the high cost of living there. Oil and gas still account for roughly half of Alaskas economy and a quarter of its jobs. Having burned through budgetary reserves as resource production has fallen, Alaska must draw especially hard this year on its Permanent Fund. Fortunately for Alaskans, this is a well-run effort that has generated exceptional recent returns.

Yet, while Alaskas investment managers find alpha in Anchorage and our Coast Guard finds Chinese warships in the Aleutians, American scientists and researchers also continue to find massive new Arctic resources not only hydrocarbons, but also metals and minerals. Production, however, is another story.

Discoveries such as Pikka, Smith Bay, Willow, Bornite, Arctic and most astoundingly, Pebble, will mean little to most in the Lower 48. The latter, however, represents a potential trillion-dollar opportunity. Further on the horizon are methane hydrates and other base and rare metal deposits containing raw ingredients needed for the technological frontier, from batteries to telecom. One metal, scandium, is present in high quantities only in the Arctic Ocean. Its used in fighter jets and today sourced mostly from China and Russia. Failure to keep pace in American resource production has meaningful consequences at multiple levels: jobs, security, growth.

By contrast, Russian Arctic resource development is surging and poised to deliver huge gains in coming years.

Though experts here often have dismissed Russian Arctic energy development as uneconomic and mere vehicles of corrupt wealth transfer, there are increasing reasons to doubt this. Arctic ice class liquid natural gas (LNG) tankers soon will be shuttling year-round across the Northern Sea Route, down through the Bering Strait and past Alaska. Yet this week, Europeans are experiencing exploding natural gas prices attributed to restricted flows from the Yamal Peninsula, a key Russian Arctic production region.

Less obviously, Russian Arctic energy technologies and advancements also are flourishing. Since 2014, Russian Arctic resource producers have filed hundreds of domestic patents a domestic innovation drive spurred, in part, by the U.S. blocking its own industrys participation in Russias Arctic.

But, if it has been ignored here, Russia hasnt hidden its intentions to develop its Arctic resources, even as the world works toward energy transition. In 2020, Russia announced plans to spend more than $300 billion on supporting Arctic infrastructure. By comparison, the investment to build the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System 50 years ago would be about $8 billion in todays dollars. Moscow-based oil company Rosneft plans to invest $135 billion in Vostok Oil and Novatek is accelerating Arctic LNG 2, another massive Arctic project. To help support these operations, Russia sports a fleet of more than 50 conventional and nuclear ice-breaking vessels, whereas the U.S. has a functional grand total of two. Having won the Cold War, we are now losing the frozen one.

This month I found myself in a political imbroglio that reminded me of my days as a young American exchange student in the Soviet Union. In this case, I was on the receiving end of an ideological purge similar to those I once studied: The White House unexpectedly demanded that I resign or be terminated as a commissioner of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC).

This independent agency, which reports to both the president and Congress, was established to promote Arctic research and, among other duties, to develop and recommend an integrated national Arctic research policy. For decades, administrations have respected its independence and havent removed appointees by previous presidents. President Biden dismissed four of Trumps commissioners, and last week named six of his own appointees.

When the 1984 Arctic Research and Policy Act created USARC, U.S.-Soviet Relations were at a nadir. Now, the laws purposes read as if they were written today: reduce our dependence on foreign oil, secure our national defense, understand our changing climate, protect our environment, promote international scientific cooperation and enhance the lives of Arctic residents.

Scientific research is crucial to the United Statess long-term ability to drive technological advancement, foster innovation and protect our national interests, be they commercial, military, environmental or social. Yet, politicized science fails. By attempting to terminate USARCs independent commissioners, the White House has done just this.

Thomas Emanuel Dans, CFA, is former counselor to the under secretary for international affairs at the Treasury Department and a former commissioner of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. He is co-founder of Amberwave Partners, an investment research firm.

More:

Under Biden, the US could fall further behind in the Arctic | TheHill - The Hill

Governor and Chairman of the Reserve Bank of Fiji Board, Ariff Ali.

The Governor and Chairman of the Reserve Bank of Fiji Board, Ariff Ali says the recent opening of borders within Viti Levu and the planned resumption of international travel later this year should augur well for the Fijian economy in the last quarter of 2021.

Following the RBF Board meeting, Ali says latest sectoral data reveal better annual performances for the resource-based sectors, particularly timber, gold, and mineral water production, while COVID-19 related disruptions continue to impact both the services and industrial sectors.

He says while partial indicators for consumption and investment remained generally weak over the month, some improvements are envisaged moving ahead as COVID-19 induced restrictions are relaxed and businesses reopen.

Ali says financial conditions remain accommodative, with liquidity levels at $1.629 billion.

The Governor says the comfortable level of foreign reserves coupled with the quantitative easing measures of the RBF including through the Disaster Rehabilitation and Containment Facility, will ensure that liquidity remains ample and supportive of a low-interest rate environment in the near term.

Ali also says commercial banks lending rates and cost of funds have broadly declined since the beginning of the year.

However inflation turned positive in August, mainly underpinned by higher prices for food and fuel. Food prices rose by 6.9 percent, while the upswing in global energy prices underlined the 36.5 percent average growth in domestic fuel prices compared to the same period last year.

The RBF says consequently, year-end inflation is forecast to increase to 2 percent after hovering in the negative territory for most of the last twenty months.

Foreign reserves remain at comfortable levels at around $3.183 billion, sufficient to cover 11 months of retained imports.

Meanwhile the RBF Board has maintained the Overnight Policy Rate at 0.25 percent following its monthly meeting today.

Ali explained that the global economic recovery continues, albeit at an uneven pace.

He says several central banks, especially in advanced economies, have indicated their intentions to taper their quantitative easing program due to inflationary concerns.

Ali says supply chain disruptions, rising shipping costs coupled with higher global energy and food prices have stoked inflationary concerns, prompting a reassessment of their accommodative stance.

The Governor also says in emerging and developing countries, a sustained recovery continues to be elusive, reflecting slow progress in vaccination, tightening financial conditions and pandemic-related disruptions to economic activity.

Read this article:

Opening of borders and resumption of travel should augur well for the economy in the last quarter of 2021 RBF Governor - Fijivillage

Investing in themes is different from investing in sovereignbonds, corporate bonds, equities and other traditional asset classes. In fact,it can transcend them, just as it can transcend factor, regional or sectorstrategies. These characteristics make thematic investing an appealingadditional allocation to a diversified portfolio.

Themes are structural megatrends that shape societies,affecting economies and redefining business models. The drivers of such trendscan be demographic shifts, social or behavioural changes, environmentaldevelopments, resource scarcity, economic imbalances, transfer of power,technological advances and regulatory or political changes.

Thematic investing allows investors to invest in assets thatare better positioned to profit from such transformative changes. When it comesto stocks and corporate bonds, it is important to select companies generating asignificant part of their revenues from selling products or services related tothe theme. For those companies, there should be an outsized impact from valuecreation.

In this article, we are focusing on environmentalsustainability, the energy transition, disruptive technology, consumerinnovation and healthcare innovation as investable themes that can earninvestors attractive returns irrespective of whether their profile isconservative, moderate or aggressive.

For the more common themes, benchmark indices are availablefrom the traditional index vendors. However, there is a limited consensus onwhich assets should be included in a portfolio representing the theme, so thedispersion of return from one thematic benchmark index to another can be large.Using thematic benchmarks from more than one provider is often a good idea.

For themes that relate to specific sectors of the economy e.g., energy, healthcare or consumer goods the relevant sector index can beused as a benchmark. However, in such cases, it is particularly important toassess the expected added value from biasing the portfolio selection towardsthose companies more exposed to the theme.

The answer depends on parameters such as the size and thelevel of diversification of the portfolio.

We believe a core-satellite framework, adding thematicinvestments to the satellite next to a core of equities, bonds and cash, can bean adequate solution for most investors, in particular for those with largeportfolios looking to invest in low-capacity themes, or for smaller investorswho prefer to limit their active allocations to thematic investments.

To implement such framework, it is necessary to understandeach thematic investment in terms of expected risk, return and interaction withother investments.

For thematic strategies investing in stocks and bonds, theexpected returns, risk and correlations can be derived from:

To assess the exposure of the theme to traditional riskfactors, the returns of the chosen benchmark can be a good starting pointbefore estimating how much excess return the thematic tilt is likely to add.

In this example of a core-satellite multi-asset portfoliowith and without thematic investments, we consider

Source: Bloomberg,FactSet, MSCI, Standard & Poors, Stoxx and BNP Paribas Asset Management.For illustration purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of futureperformance.

The portfolios were generated from the robust portfoliooptimisation framework in use at BNP Paribas Asset Management for theconstruction of multi-asset portfolios. This framework relies on expectedreturns, risks and correlations estimated for each of the investmentsconsidered.

In general, the thematic investments replace a number ofcore and diversifying investments.

Below we show the impact of adding thematic investments tothe portfolio, increasing expected returns at comparable levels of risk. Theallocation to the satellite also increases considerably.

Source: Bloomberg,FactSet, MSCI, Standard & Poors, Stoxx and BNP Paribas Asset Management.For illustration purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of futureperformance.

We believe thematic investments can help diversifytraditional portfolios and generate excess returns at comparable levels ofrisk. They can add a dimension in portfolios that transcends asset classes,sectors, regions and investment styles.

Read ALLOCATING TO THEMATIC INVESTMENTS An investmentrationale for institutional investors

In this paper, we propose a framework for allocating tothemes while taking into account the expected returns from the various assetsand the expected alphas for the themes.

The paper includes a detailed example of an allocation toequities and bonds for the five themes and show how the allocation changesaccording to an investors level of risk aversion.

Any views expressedhere are those of the author as of the date of publication, are based onavailable information, and are subject to change without notice. Individualportfolio management teams may hold different views and may take differentinvestment decisions for different clients. The views expressed in this podcastdo not in any way constitute investment advice.

The value ofinvestments and the income they generate may go down as well as up and it ispossible that investors will not recover their initial outlay. Past performanceis no guarantee for future returns.

Investing in emergingmarkets, or specialised or restricted sectors is likely to be subject to ahigher-than-average volatility due to a high degree of concentration, greateruncertainty because less information is available, there is less liquidity ordue to greater sensitivity to changes in market conditions (social, politicaland economic conditions).

Some emerging markets offer less security than the majority of international developed markets. For this reason, services for portfolio transactions, liquidation and conservation on behalf of funds invested in emerging markets may carry greater risk.

Read more:

Assessing the added value of thematic investments - Investors' Corner - Investors' Corner BNP Paribas

Dublin, Oct. 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Comparative SWOT & Strategy Focus - 2021-2025 - Global Top 6 Agriculture Equipment Manufacturers - John Deere, CNH Industrial, AGCO, CLAAS, SDF, Kubota Corporation" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Agriculture Equipment demand & sales fared well in 2020 with the net farm income in the U.S. reaching its highest level since 2013

The market is expected to grow to a figure of $120 billion while registering a 44% year on year increase despite battling serious production & supply chain disruptions & challenges caused by the global outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. net farm income for 2021 is projected to be in correction mode and decline by 9.7% year-on-year to reach $111.4 billion following four consecutive years of steady improvements & increases. The global agriculture equipment sales for 2021, however, are projected to register growth in mid-single digit percentages across North America, Europe and South America while the sales in Asia are projected to contract marginally

The global demand for agriculture equipment is projected to register steady growth for 2021 driven by favorable agriculture commodity prices & farm economics, high crop yields and low levels of global grain inventories needing replenishment

The row crop segment has been witnessing largest demand in North America with high horsepower tractor segment registering strong growth as farmers actively pursue fleet replacement & recapitalization. EU, too, has been witnessing higher levels of crop output along with stronger farm economics in 2021 boosting overall farm sentiment. The COVID-19, however, continues to create supply chain disruptions marked by delays and constraints amid increasing industrial demand and will remain a challenge for the world economy over near term

The long-term industry fundamentals for agriculture, however, remain robust with the global agricultural output required to double itself by 2050

Story continues

The global agriculture equipment industry is also in the midst of a technology-driven evolution phase led by the development & incorporation of connectivity, autonomous and sustainable powertrain technologies aimed at enhanced efficiency, productivity and sustainability. The current phase of agriculture industry's development and its likely evolution over medium term quintessentially is going to be defined and shaped by technology which has been evolving rapidly and disrupting markets fundamentally

Against this backdrop, the report provides a comprehensive Comparative SWOT & Strategy Focus Analysis on the World's Top 6 Agriculture Equipment manufacturers. The report analyzes as to how the key industry OEMs are positioned, based on their Strengths & Weaknesses, and are gearing up for the highly dynamic & rapidly evolving agriculture market landscape with reference to the emerging Opportunities and potential Threats.

The report also analyzes the overall, Near to Medium Term Strategy Focus and provides insights into the Key Strategies & Plans for the leading Global Agriculture Equipment OEMs for the near to medium term horizon based on a comparative assessment of

1. Business & Product Portfolios Analysis & Strategic Positioning across Key Markets & Segments2. Analysis of overall Cost Base, Structure & Management3. Analysis of Revenue Streams, Resource Base & Domain Competencies4. Revenues & Profitability, Key Profit Sources, Profitability Growth & Trend Analysis5. Capital & Ownership Structure and Financial Strength6. Degree of Diversification7. International Presence across Key Geographic Markets & Regions - Breadth & Depth8. Key Competitor Analysis across Markets & Segments and Degree of Competitive Intensity9. Competitive Market Positioning across Key Markets & Product Segments10. Overall Strategy Orientation & Focus, R&D Strategy, Technological Strength & Capabilities

For Whom: Key Decision-Makers across Industry Value Chain

Key Decision-Makers

Procurement Managers

Top Management of Industry Players & Other Companies

Industry OEMs & Technology/Other Solutions Providers

Suppliers, Vendors, Sales & Distribution Channels and other Key Players in the Industry Value Chain

Associated Equipment Manufacturers & Technology Solutions Providers

Existing & potential Investors

Industry & Company Analysts

M&A Advisory Firms

Strategy & Management Consulting Firms

PE Firms, Venture Capitalists and Financing & Leasing Companies

Researchers and all those associated with the industry in general

Key Topics Covered:

Section - 1 Business Structure & Snapshot - World's Top 6 Agriculture Equipment Manufacturersa) Foundedb) Headquarteredc) Business Segmentsd) Employeese) Revenuesf) Market Capitalizationg) Key Executivesh) Shareholding/Ownership Pattern & Structure

Section - 2 Financial Performance Snapshot & Analysis - Charts & Analysis for each Company:1. Revenue Base & Growth Trend2. Revenues Split by Key Segments3. Revenues Split by Key Geographic Markets & Regions4. Gross Earnings & Margin Trend5. Operating Earnings & Operating Margin Trend6. Return on Sales Trend7. Profitability Growth Trend8. Cash Flow from Operations9. R&D Expenditure Trend10. CAPEX Trend

Section - 3 SWOT Analysis

Section - 4 Comparative Analysis of Strengths

Deere & Company

CNH Industrial N.V.

AGCO Corporation

CLAAS Group

SDF Group

Kubota Corporation

Section - 5 Comparative Analysis of Weaknesses

Deere & Company

CNH Industrial N.V.

AGCO Corporation

CLAAS Group

SDF Group

Kubota Corporation

Section - 6 Strategy Focus across OEMs - Near to Medium Term - For the 6 Leading Agriculture Equipment Manufacturers

Deere & Company

CNH Industrial N.V.

AGCO Corporation

CLAAS Group

SDF Group

Kubota Corporation

Section - 7 Analysis of Key Strategies & Plans for the 6 Leading Agriculture Equipment OEMs - Near to Medium Term1. Product Portfolio Strategies & Plans2. Market Specific Strategies & Plans3. R&D Strategies & Plans4. Growth Strategies & Plans5. Business and Corporate Strategies & Plans6. Sales & Marketing Strategies & Plans7. Production/Manufacturing Strategies & Plans8. Financial Strategies & Plans9. Acquisitions, Strategic Alliances & JVs10. Other Strategies, Strategic Initiatives & Imperatives

Section - 8 Key Trends

Industry Trends

Market Trends

Technology Trends

Section - 9 Key Issues, Challenges & Risk Factors

Section - 10 Global Agriculture Equipment Market - Force Field Analysis - Analysis of Driving & Restraining Forces and their Overall Dynamics

Driving Forces

Restraining Forces

Section - 11 Strategic Market Outlook

Analysis of Emerging Global Scenario for Agriculture & Farm Incomes

Demand Outlook for Agriculture Equipment

Growth Projections for Key Agriculture Equipment Markets

Insights into Potential Growth Opportunities

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/s79mfb

Go here to see the original:

Outlook on the Top 6 Agriculture Equipment Manufacturers to 2025 - Featuring John Deere, CNH Industrial, AGCO, CLAAS, SDF and Kubota Corporation -...

See fully formatted version in PDF here.

The Indonesia World Bank Country Partnership Framework (CPF) which sets the parameters of the Banks engagement in the country between 2021 and 2024, was published in May. Twelve organisations in Indonesia, including Trend Asia, WALHI, Greenpeace and Pena Masyarakat, reviewed the CPF to identify its exposure to fossil fuels. In a statement sent to the World Bank in Indonesia, they noted that the Bank is incentivising the use of gas and biogas as transition fuels in Indonesia and that technical assistance and Development Policy Loans are scheduled to support the Indonesian State Electricity Company, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), which still intends to construct 33,000 MW of coal-fired and gas-fired power stations.

The CPF is therefore at odds with the World Banks new Climate Change Action Plan (see Observer Summer 2021), which aims to align with the Paris Agreement through the provision of support to clients in a way that is consistent with low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathways. The CPF also proposes a phased response, with Covid-19 recovery in the first half of the 2021-2024 period, and decarbonisation efforts coming in the second period, thereby delaying urgent action on tackling climate change.

The Indonesia CPF appears to put tackling climate change on the back-burner, a fire to be put out once the Covid-19 crisis has been brought under control. This is a high-risk strategy, given the urgency of keeping global warming below 1.5C and the intensity of climate impacts and global heating already underway.

The CPF states that in the first half of the CPF period, the accent will be on supporting inclusive and sustainable economic recovery, in ensuring effective implementation of governments emergency assistance to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic as well as an orderly exit from exceptional support measures. This suggests that low-carbon development will be a lower priority in this first half of the CPF, leaving a period of open season for investors and regulators to drive for growth at any cost, instead of seizing the opportunity created by the dual crisis of climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic to transition rapidly to a low-carbon economy.

The framework further states that if engagement with the government on issues such as the transition to low carbon energy and climate change shows results, the Performance and Learning Review (PLR) would provide an opportunity for assistance to be rebalanced in the second half of the CPF. This mid-term review will be an important, if belated, opportunity for CSOs to push for the urgent prioritisation of decarbonisation. The review process must be open and inclusive of a broad range of Indonesian civil society actors.

The latter phase of the CPF is identified as including climate informed DPFs (Development Policy Finance) [that] will support sustainable and resilient recovery through climate actions, for example, shifting to cleaner transport and low-carbon energy. If the DPFs are targeted at supporting the PLNs financial sustainability, then the Bank must be aware that its financing will also incentivise coal and gas development.

In the July 2013 World Bank Energy Directions Paper, the Bank stated it would fund coal power generation only in rare circumstances. However, in Indonesia, the World Banks Development Policy Finance (DPF) non-earmarked budget support which provides finance directly to a countrys general budget as opposed to project finance for a specific project has since offered many incentives for fossil fuel development, including subsidies given to Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects which in Indonesias energy sector predominantly comprise coal power plants and government contract incentives for natural gas exploration. All of these DPF supported investment incentives contradict Indonesias G20 commitment and the Banks pledge to phase out fossil fuel subsidies.

The CPF for Indonesia is built around four engagement areas: to strengthen economic competitiveness and resilience; improve infrastructure; nurture human capital; strengthen management of natural assets, natural resources-based livelihoods and disaster resilience. But there is an emphasis in the CPF on enabling foreign direct investment, which is of significant concern, because the World Banks 2018 pledge to end financing for upstream oil and gas does not include indirect financing through financial intermediaries (FIs). This keeps the door open to Bank support for private financing of fossil fuels, including coal and upstream oil and gas, as a result of the World Banks substantial equity guarantees and lending.

Just before the publication of Indonesias new CPF in May, the CEO of the PLN announced a moratorium on new coal plants from 2023, stating that 1,500 TWh of new electricity required between now and 2060 (five times the current electricity demand in the country) must come from renewables.

However, the PLN also announced that coal-fired power stations that were already financed and under construction would be built until 2025. In total 20 GW of additional power generating capacity will come from coal-fired power stations, plus an additional 13 GW from gas-fired power stations. The energy ministrys new plan extends the life of PLNs coal-fired power fleet by switching to biomass co-firing. However, a complete phase out of coal-fired power plants is essential to align with the Paris Agreement goals, and whilst biomass co-firing can reduce greenhouse gas emissions of existing power plants, this also supports the continued use of coal (as co-firing is a combination of coal and biomass).

A November 2020 presidential regulation features coal gasification on a priority investment list, which includes incentives such as tax allowances or tax breaks. A $2 billion project in Sumatra for the construction of a coal gasification plant to produce methanol and subsequently dimethyl ether (DME), is considered a nationally strategic project. Downstream coal processing includes methods of transforming coal into different products, in this case into DME as an alternative to LPG, commonly used for cooking.

In the implementation of the latest mineral and coal mining law (UU No 3 2020), Indonesias coal production is increasing. In 2021, Indonesia is setting the target at 625 million tonnes of coal production, which is the biggest national target in history. Indonesias coal is mostly exported to India and China with exports reaching over 160 million tons in 2020.

In this context the position of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the World Banks private risk insurance arm, as a debt guarantor for the PLN is inconsistent with the WBGs commitment to exit coal. Indonesian civil society groups fear that MIGAs guarantee for PLNs debt of Rp 500 trillion/$35 billion will contribute to PLNs capacity to build more coal-fired power plants. These plants are unnecessary, given that Indonesia is already experiencing electricity oversupply of almost 50 per cent.

Also, as planned in the CPF, the World Bank has committed $200 million to a policy-based guarantee to ensure continuity of electricity supply by addressing the projected impact of the Covid-19 crisis on PLNs cash flow and by improving the companys medium- to long-term financial viability. Given the PLNs heavy debt attributed to coal-fired power plants, and the promotion of new coal-fired power plants and downstream coal projects, it is unlikely that this CPF-envisaged major Policy Based Guarantee to support PLN Financial Stabilisation and Reform Project is consistent with the World Banks commitment to get out of coal.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Banks private investment arm, is also implicated in supporting Java 9 and 10, the 2000 MW Java coal power station in Banten, Indonesia. This is one of the worlds biggest new coal complexes, backed by the IFC through its financial intermediary, Hana Bank Indonesia, which provided project loans in July 2020. This is despite Hana Bank endorsing IFCs new Green Equity Approach, which was developed precisely to encourage equity clients in such countries to shift away from coal, with a goal to reduce their coal exposure by 50 per cent by 2025 and to zero by 2030 (see Observer Winter 2020).

Given that the life cycle of a coal-fired power station is around 40 years, ongoing construction of coal plants supported through MIGA, the IFC and policy-based guarantees risks leaving Indonesia paying for coal infrastructure until the late 2060s, locking the country into coal well beyond its deadline to become carbon neutral. This approach jars with the findings of the August 2021 IPCC report, which UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said should sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet.

The CPFs reform agenda will be supported by an ambitious ASA with decarbonization considerations at its core an Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA) report being a policy-based non-lending service produced by the Bank that is influential in shaping national policy. If the ASA is to deliver on the decarbonisation agenda, it must address the World Banks existing commitments to coal and other fossil fuels, and ensure it supports policy and regulatory reforms on a pathway towards carbon neutrality in line with Indonesias international commitments.

The International Energy Agencys Net-Zero by 2050 report notes there is no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply. More questionable still in the case of Indonesia are new gas power plants, which often built with a 30-year lifespan would take the world past the 2050 target for achieving net zero.

The petrochemical industry has long claimed gas is a bridge fuel that is less damaging to the climate than oil or coal. But recent research by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) presents growing evidence of the damage caused by methane leaks, the urgency of curbing emissions and the falling price of renewables that will squeeze the whole gas supply chain, creating financial risks. Furthermore, now that renewables are competitive economically, additional gas tends to displace investment in renewable energy as well as coal. Gas is starting to impede rather than to enable the energy transition.

Nevertheless, the Indonesia CPF has a specific emphasis on natural gas. In a number of places, the CPF refers to the acceleration of the deployment of natural gas and biogas. The CPF Results Framework also outlines plans to conduct an ASA to support gas and alternative energy sources and has a stated aim of improving the investment climate for private investors by strengthening natural resource governance, gas infrastructure planning, and regulatory reform.

The WBG has made a regressive U-turn on gas in the CPF since the publication of the Indonesia Systemic Country Diagnostic (SCD) 2020. Civil society groups question how and why the WBG advocates for gas in the CPF, when the opportunity is ripe to finance and support the rapid uptake of sustainable renewable energy, in line with Indonesias decarbonisation goals.

The CPF states that provided the government proceeds with energy sector reforms, WBG support will also be extended through a policy-oriented Program-for-Results (P4R) and lending operations directed at energy sources alternative to coal, aimed at improving sector financial sustainability while reducing the fiscal burden of the energy sector and improving access to energy. It seems clear now that energy sources considered alternative to coal include gas, as well as the downstream use of coal (including coal liquefaction and gasification) which serve as a means to continue exploiting Indonesias massive coal reserves.

See the article here:

World Bank's plans for Indonesia: Delayed action on climate and continued coal and gas support - Bretton Woods Observer

The first mine in Canada to hire First Nation's People; the North Rankin Nickel Mine built a bridge between two cultures North of 60 Mining News October 1, 2021

Found within the newest territory of Canada, Nunavut may seem barren and inhospitable, yet it has provided resources and succor to its First Peoples for thousands of years. While European colonizers and the indigenous peoples in their ancestral home suffered many differences, it was the shared efforts of the two groups in trade and labor that bridged this gap, eventually leading to the formation of Nunavut itself.

While it may seem strange, as history often describes events before our lifetime, that a relatively recent change to Canada came with the redrawing of its map on April 1, 1999, dividing the already sprawling Northwest Territories into two with the creation of Nunavut, a testament to the strength of Inuit political leaders and the flexibility of Canadian political institutions.

However, as great a success in claiming and naming a region in this modern world as one for your people, it was a beleaguered and tiresome trek for many of the First Nation's people.

Known as Inuit, the Inuktitut word for people, much of recent history has them called as Eskimo, who obviously prefer the substitution of their own term for themselves. While striking aspects of their material culture are well known iglu (snowhouse) and kayak (small boat), perhaps better than ulu (woman's knife) and umiak (large boat) their intellectual culture and values have served Inuit people as well in the modern world as their unique technology did in earlier ages.

The newly dubbed territory of Nunavut is geographically large, with a distinctive variety of landscapes and ecosystems. The whole region, from the glacial mountain fjords of the east coast of Baffin Island to the rolling rock hills of the west coast of Hudson Bay, is arctic terrain, meaning it lies north of the tree line.

While what remains of Northwest Territories is frequently referred to as the western Arctic, it is more appropriate to call it subarctic, since the largest portion of that territory lies within the tree line.

Regardless, much of both territories rest within what is known as the Canadian Shield, a large area of Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rock, dating it to the earliest part of Earth's history.

Scoured down to stone during the last ice age, glaciation has receded over time, revealing a joined bedrock region in eastern and central Canada, stretching from north of the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean. This shield covers more than half of Canada and most of Greenland and extends south into the northern parts of the United States.

To make this place home, a hardy and innovative people had to have devised ways to survive, and so they did.

Mining brings together

While European exploration happened as early as the 1600s by Lt. John Rankin of the British Royal Navy, of which the current hamlet and actual inlet, Rankin Inlet, gets its name, it would not be until over 300 years later that further exploration and eventual European settling would occur in the area.

According to Geological Survey Bulletin 1223 by the USGS, published in 1966, "In 1928 R. G. O. Johnston discovered a nickel sulfide deposit on the north shore of Rankin Inlet, west coast of Hudson Bay, about 900 miles north of Winnipeg. It was drilled between 1930 and 1937, and in 1951 the North Rankin Nickel Mines, Ltd., was organized to mine the deposit. Mining started in 1957 and was completed in 1962. The deposit contained 460,000 tons of nickel-copper sulfide ore containing 3.3% nickel, 0.8% copper, 0.2% cobalt, 0.03 ounces platinum per ton, and 0.06 oz palladium per ton. This operation is one of the few that have been attempted in the subarctic region of Canada."

As succinct an explanation as any, the town itself was founded by the owners of the Rankin Inlet Mine, just north of Johnston Cove. Starting in 1957, the mine produced nickel and copper from an underground operation.

The mine was opened due to a sharp increase in the price of nickel due to the Korean War, of which it operated for five years before shuttering due to declining prices and a depletion of the ore body.

The significance of this mine, however, cannot be expressed without first detailing the conditions of the region at this time.

Before the opening of the mine, northern agencies, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and federal government officials, strove to prohibit Inuit people from congregating around permanent settlements by enforcing a strict "policy of dispersal."

This policy aimed to protect traditional Inuit land-based culture, but more importantly, to ensure any Inuit would not become a financial burden to the nation. At the same time, contradictory educational and settlement policies sought both to elevate the First Nation's People from their "primitive" position through modernizing their social and cultural practices while at the same time preserving their "independent" and "traditional" lifestyles.

Due to the collapse of Arctic fox fur prices in the early 1950s, and a perceived crisis in caribou populations, the Department of Northern Affairs adopted an increasingly interventionist policy in the eastern Arctic. These developments, and the negative publicity surrounding desperate Inuit living conditions (including episodes of starvation among inland Inuit groups) largely ended the laissez faire attitude of the government, which shifted to the promotion of wage labor as a solution to the "Eskimo problem."

Along with work in construction at Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line stations, the mine at Rankin Inlet appeared to offer an opportunity to shift the Inuit away from their seemingly precarious land-based economy and toward industrial wage labor and settlement life.

As a Canadian Press reporter noted in 1958, "[Government] officials here call the Rankin experiment a 'bright shining light' against the general background of the Eskimo Problem. Sustained success would mean a lot in the program to integrate the Eskimo from his stone-age past into the 'time clock' world."

Writing to the mine company's secretary for information about the operation, Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs R. Gordon Robertson suggested that "because of the steadily increasing inroads on the wildlife resources of the North, it is going to be necessary to have more Eskimos adapted to wage employment as their means of livelihood."

To this end, the Department of North Affairs and National Resources and other government agencies in the region, such as the RCMP, assisted the North Rankin Nickel Mine in identifying suitable Inuit candidates for employment.

For its part, the company initially embraced Inuit labor as a seasonal workforce, and many Inuit were engaged in construction and stevedore work (as well as trade) at Rankin Inlet as early as 1953.

By 1956-57, as the mine shifted to production, Inuit people were recruited to Rankin Inlet in increasing numbers. North Rankin Nickel Mine president W.W. Weber told Northern Affairs he was "strongly in favor of employing as many Eskimos as possible" and integrating them permanently into the life of the mining camp. That year, Inuit employment increased from 14 to 80 workers, of which they quickly became integrated into nearly all aspects of the operation, including underground work.

While the mine's life was short, as one of the first mines in the Far North, the North Rankin Nickel Mine, did however, become the very first mine to hire indigenous people throughout the entire country of Canada.

When the mine closed in 1962, Rankin Inlet had a population of 500 Inuit, with 70-80% of them being workers.

Later years into today

Many Inuit people came in off the land to work in the mine during those years, with many moving on to work in the mines at Yellowknife, Flin Flon and elsewhere. Not long after, the population of Rankin Inlet dwindled to almost half by 1964.

Several unsuccessful attempts followed to develop alternate sources of income for the town, including pig ranching and chicken raising.

But it was federal work that quickly established its current legacy, which included a ceramics project, where local Inuit people were taught how to create a "Northern" style of ceramics which included images of local wildlife.

Then, in the early 1970s, the Government of Northwest Territories moved its regional headquarters to Rankin Inlet, which bolstered the community.

Today, per the 2016 census, Rankin Inlet is home to nearly 3,000 people, primarily of Inuit descent, and while Rankin Inlet lost to Iqaluit in 1995 to become the territorial capital of the future Nunavut, it is now a strong cultural site for artists and artisans, that also houses the only Inuit fine-arts ceramics production facility in the world.

Wikimedia Commons/Ansgar Walk; CC BY-SA 2.5

The Inuksuk is a symbol with deep roots in Inuit culture, a directional marker that signifies safety, hope, and friendship. The word inuksuk means "something which acts for or performs the function of a person." This Inuksuk sits atop a cliffside in Rankin Inlet.

To add to the growing prospects of this weathered settlement, Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., has settled near the historic mining town, and with the projected numbers from a 2017 resource estimate, its Meliadine mine is expected to produce gold until at least 2034, and that is more than twice as long as Rankin Nickel survived.

At the end of 2017, Meliadine hosted 16 million metric tons of proven and probable mineral reserves averaging 7.12 g/t (3.7 million oz) gold; 25.3 million metric tons of indicated resources averaging 3.77 g/t (3.1 million oz) gold; and 13.8 million metric tons of inferred resources averaging 6.04 g/t (2.7 million oz) gold.

As part of the town's history with mining, during the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic, Agnico spent more than US$18 million supporting roughly 450 Nunavut employees, who received 75% of their salaries during their hiatus.

Seen too many times to count, with an influx of work, a stable wage brought by significant resource development, and the prospect of expansion with the company's additional Amaruq mine, while Rankin Inlet never saw a boom, as the mine has recently kicked off, its not too early to say it could experience one now.

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Nunavut mine created legacy of partnership - North of 60 Mining News