Financial & Business News
- BusinessReuters
UPDATE 1-Orange juice prices surge as Ian nears Florida; Cargill shuts plants
Orange juice futures on ICE exchange traded up as much as 5.5% on Wednesday as Hurricane Ian approached the Florida coast, threatening to damage orange trees in the country's largest producing state. Meat companies also braced for the storm to hit the southeastern United States, where livestock and chickens are raised, while agribusiness Cargill Inc shuttered facilities that handle products ranging from grains to salt. Forecasters say Ian would unleash wind-driven high surf and torrential rains that may cause coastal flooding of up to 12 feet (3.7 meters) in Florida.
- BusinessReuters
UPDATE 1-Philip Morris not planning to drop Swedish Match bid - CEO
Philip Morris is not considering withdrawing its offer for Swedish Match despite deteriorating global economic conditions and has "options on the table" including holding a majority stake, its CEO told Reuters. Marlboro-maker Philip Morris in May offered to buy the Stockholm-based company in a bet on the fast-growing market for cigarette alternatives. By Swedish law, 90% of Swedish Match shareholders need to approve the offer before Oct. 21, but some have come out against the $16 billion -- or 106 SEK per share -- bid for one of the world's biggest makers of oral nicotine products.
- U.S.Reuters
UPDATE 1-Cuba slowly begins to restore power after Hurricane Ian knocks out grid
Cuba had restored power to at least some consumers in the majority of its provinces, the state electricity provider said Wednesday, after Hurricane Ian caused the country's grid to completely collapse, turning off the lights for 11 million people. Cuba's already frail grid, largely dependent on antiquated, Soviet-era oil-fired generation plants and scarce fuel, had been faltering for months ahead of the storm. But officials said Hurricane Ian had proven too much, knocking out power even in far eastern Cuba, which was largely unaffected by the storm.
