The Pivdenno-Ukrainian, Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants with a total capacity of about 7,800 MW have reduced capacity to 4,700 MW due to the threat of missile attacks by Russian invaders, NAEC Energoatom said in a Telegram feed Thursday morning.
“As of 6:30 a.m. Thursday, all power units have a combined output of 4,700 MW to the power system,” the statement said.
The NAEC also clarified that the last power supply line to the occupied Zaporizhzhya ZNPP went out as a result of Russian rocket fire at 3:53 a.m. on March 9.
“At present, the plant is de-energized and went into blackout mode for the sixth time during the occupation, the 5th and 6th power units are put into cold state, 18 diesel generators are switched on to supply ZNPP’s own needs. Fuel for their work is left for 10 days,” described the situation in Enerhoatom.
They pointed out that in case of impossibility to resume external power supply to the plant, an accident with radiation consequences for the entire world could happen during this time.
“The countdown has begun,” the company commented.
As reported, the occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP was completely de-energized for the sixth time since the occupation on March 4, 2022, having lost connection with the last power line and the ability to receive electric power from the Ukrainian grid, switched to diesel generators.
The U.S. dollar was declining against major world currencies in trading on Thursday.
The DXY index, which shows the U.S. dollar value against six major world currencies, fell 0.08% to 105.57 points. A day earlier it had risen to 105.88 points, the highest level since December 1, on hawkish statements from Federal Reserve (Fed) chief Jerome Powell, MarketWatch notes.
He said that Fed management has not yet decided how much it will raise the benchmark interest rate at the March meeting. That will depend on statistical data on inflation and employment, which the Fed has yet to assess. Powell said the Central Bank is ready to accelerate the pace of monetary tightening if U.S. economic activity does not begin to slow. That said, the final rate level is likely to be higher than previously thought, he said.
Prime rate futures prices point to the likelihood of a 50 basis point hike at the end of the March meeting, according to Trading Economics.
The euro is trading at $1.0553 in the morning versus $1.0544 at the end of last session.
The value of the single European currency is now around 144.40 yen compared to 144.82 yen on Wednesday. The dollar exchange rate is 136.81 yen against 137.35 yen at the end of the previous trading day.
The WSJ Dollar indicator, which tracks the dollar’s movement against 16 currencies, declined 0.13%.
The pound is trading at $1.1855 compared to $1.1844 on the previous trading day. The euro is at 0.8901 against 0.8902 a day earlier.
Oil is stable Thursday after declining in the previous two sessions.
Traders are assessing data on changes in fuel inventories in the U.S., as well as statements of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
The Fed has not yet decided on the amount by which it will raise the benchmark interest rate at the March meeting, said the head of the U.S. central bank. This, he said, will depend on statistical data on inflation and employment in the U.S., which the Fed has yet to assess.
May futures for Brent crude oil on London’s ICE Futures Exchange were quoted at $82.66 a barrel as of 7:03 a.m., the same as at the close of previous trading. The contracts were down $0.63 (0.8%) on Wednesday.
The price of WTI April futures decreased by $0.02 (0.03%) to $76.64 per barrel at electronic auctions of New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). At the end of previous trading the cost of contracts has fallen by $0.92 (1.2%) to $76.66.
U.S. commercial oil inventories fell 1.69 million barrels to 478.51 million barrels last week, according to a weekly report from the Energy Department. This is the first decline in 11 weeks.
Gasoline reserves decreased by 1.13 million barrels, while distillates increased by 138,000 barrels.
Experts were expecting oil reserves to rise by 1.6 million barrels, gasoline reserves to decrease by 2 million barrels and distillates by 1.3 million barrels.
Geographical structure of foreign trade in goods in 2018-2022 (%)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
In a March report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) increased its forecast for corn exports from Ukraine in the 2022/2023 marketing year (MY, July-June) by 1 million tons from February data to 23.5 million tons from 22.5 million tons, while for wheat it kept its estimate at 13.5 million tons.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report on its website Thursday that its forecast for corn production for the current MY is maintained at 27 million tons and wheat at 21 million tons.
Also in the March forecast, the estimate of transitional corn balances in Ukraine at the end of 2022/2023 MY was reduced by 1 million tons to 2.39 million tons from 3.39 million tons, and by 0.04 million tons for wheat to 4.17 million tons from 4.21 million tons.
At the same time, the estimate of domestic consumption of corn in Ukraine in 2022/2023 MY remained at 5 million tons, and wheat – 4 million tons.
In general, the forecast of fodder grain exports in Ukraine in 2022/23 MY in the March forecast was increased by 1.1 million tons – to 26.03 million tons from 24.93 million tons in February, and the forecast of its production was kept at 34.16 million tons.
Since the beginning of 2022/2023 marketing year (July-June) and until March 3, Ukraine exported 32.54 million tons of cereals, including 18.8 million tons of corn (-1% compared to the same period a year earlier), 11.38 million tons of wheat (1.58 times less), 2.06 million tons of barley (2.73 times less), 16.1 thousand tons of rye (10 times less) and 100.5 tons of flour (+47.8%).
2022-2024 goods trade balance forecast (USD bln)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
