Business news in brief

Mexican farms focus of Heifer project

Heifer International plans to help thousands of farmers in Southern Mexico reach more people with their eggs, beef and honey.

The two-year project, "Rural Entrepreneurs: Connecting Field to Table," is designed to provide 6,125 farmers in four Mexican states with money to support their farm operations and gain market access, a news release said.

This Heifer-led project will educate farmers on integrated farming methods and management, and give them new technologies and capital.

It is made possible by a $3 million grant from the Walmart Foundation, a Heifer spokesman said via email.

The Bentonville-based foundation invests in areas where small-scale producers struggle to find "formal" market access for their products.

Support from the Walmart Foundation shows how retailer-supported philanthropy can help bridge the gap between farmers and consumers, said Victor Garcia, country director for Heifer Mexico, in a news release.

"The possibilities for what this opportunity means for the farmers is exciting," he said.

-- Nathan Owens

Conoco awarded $2B in Venezuela case

CARACAS, Venezuela -- ConocoPhillips said it won a $2 billion arbitration award against Venezuela's state oil company, compounding the financial woes of the socialist-run nation as it struggles to feed its population.

The award represents the equivalent of more than 20 percent of the cash-strapped Venezuelan government's foreign currency reserves.

The Houston-based company said in a statement that the ruling against PDVSA by an International Chamber of Commerce panel is final and binding.

The ruling arose from the expropriation of ConocoPhillips' investments in two heavy crude oil projects in 2007 at a time then-President Hugo Chavez increased the state's take of record oil rents, forcing foreign oil companies to accept less generous terms. Many instead left the country and sued to hold up their original contracts.

But collecting the judgment won't be easy, as President Nicolas Maduro has a tight grip on what few dollars are still trickling into the country from plummeting oil production and amid sanctions by the Trump administration barring U.S investors from lending money to the government.

-- The Associated Press

Tariff-roiled metals market calms down

After three weeks of intense volatility fueled by tariff proposals, metal markets seem to be calming down.

Aluminum steadied after a four-day sell-off that accelerated after the U.S. decision to ease sanctions against Russian firm United Co. Rusal. Nickel advanced as the Philippines moved forward with a plan to limit the area of land miners are permitted to exploit. Copper ended the session down 0.1 percent.

Aluminum's rally has been thrown into reverse after a change in tack by the U.S., which said Monday that it would provide sanctions relief if Oleg Deripaska relinquishes control of Rusal and extended the window for traders to stop dealings with the company.

"Prices should revert to some extent," Wei Lai, an analyst with Cofco Futures Ltd., said in Shanghai. "The worst time for Rusal has passed."

-- Bloomberg News

Music royalties bill approved in House

The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation Wednesday to overhaul music copyrights, a step toward reforming the way musicians and songwriters are paid by online streaming services.

The Music Modernization Act, introduced with bipartisan support in the House, passed by a vote 415-0 and will now proceed to the U.S. Senate. The Senate is scheduled to begin consideration in May.

Under the proposed law, Spotify Technology SA, Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Pandora Media Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. would create a database of songs and support a trio of judges who would determine songwriter royalties. The Music Modernization Act would also benefit artists who recorded music before 1972 by delaying the expiration of their copyrights, and determine how sound engineers get paid.

-- Bloomberg News

Ford sounds death knell for its sedans

Ford Motor Co. said it will no longer invest in traditional sedans for its namesake brand, spelling the eventual demise of models including a long-ago best-seller, the Taurus.

"Given declining consumer demand and product profitability, the company will not invest in next generations of traditional Ford sedans for North America," the automaker said in a statement announcing its first-quarter earnings. "Over the next few years, the Ford car portfolio in North America will transition to two vehicles -- the best-selling Mustang and the all-new Focus Active crossover coming out next year."

The statement put the Fusion family car, Fiesta subcompact, Taurus sedan and C-Max hybrid on death watch in Ford's biggest and most profitable market. Ford conspicuously left out any information about the fate of the Lincoln luxury brand's MKZ and Continental sedans, which are mechanically similar to the Fusion and Taurus.

-- Bloomberg News

Louisiana dangles $1.5B to attract firm

NEW ORLEANS -- State and local governments in Louisiana have offered an estimated $1.5 billion in incentives to persuade a Taiwanese company to locate a $9.4 billion plastics complex along the Mississippi River upstream from New Orleans, Louisiana's secretary of economic development said.

The package includes about $1.4 billion in property tax exemptions for the Formosa Petrochemicals Corp. subsidiary that would build and run the plant, the secretary, Don Pierson, said in a statement emailed Monday night.

Louisiana's Board of Commerce and Industry approved the property tax break Wednesday without objection. Gov. John Bel Edwards' spokesman Richard Carbo said the governor intends to sign off on fully exempting the plastics complex from local property taxes for a decade. Such long-term exemptions are now against the rules, but this one could be grandfathered in because it was initially offered when the Formosa subsidiary first proposed the plant in 2015.

-- The Associated Press

Business on 04/26/2018

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