Commodities Focus

As hurricane season 2022 unfolds in the US Gulf of Mexico, the implications for oil and gas infrastructure in the region are wide-ranging. More than ever, the whole world is watching the US Gulf as energy from the United States grow their presence in global markets. Americas gas news manager Joe Fisher sits down with natural gas editor Alan Lammey and oil editor Jordan Blum to discuss what the for...

European and Asian buyers of liquefied natural gas have increasingly been turning to US supplies as Russia's gas is spurned. This has reinvigorated contracting and LNG terminal development activity in the US, where the midstream and upstream sectors, and regulators in Washington, are keenly aware of the developing market opportunity for global gas. S&P Global Commodity Insights' Americas gas news...

The lockdowns in Shanghai have caused significant supply chain disruption around the world, but also falling container rates from their all-time highs. In this episode of the Commodities Focus podcast, Americas containers editor David Lademan speaks with Asia containers specialist Ayush Verma and managing editor George Griffiths about how the ongoing lockdowns in China amid their 'zero-COVID' poli...

Sulphuric acid prices have been rising strongly since the start of COVID-19. Copper prices are also showing a similar trend. What are the factors behind the strong uptrend in demand? What is the impact on copper and sulphuric acid from the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war and China's "zero-COVID" strategy? S&P Global Commodity Insights' experts--Mok Yuen Cheng and Han Lu from the Platts pricing team an...

Russia's military invasion of Ukraine has triggered a shift in European power production as gas prices have risen to new heights. With Russian supplies accounting for about 40% of all European gas imports, can natural gas have a future as a key generation fuel in Europe? Can it remain a bridge between high-carbon fuels and green sources of energy as planned to meet ambitious climate targets?   Tel...

A global dislocation of clean tanker tonnage has driven freight volatility in recent weeks, as charterers scramble for barrels in east and west of Suez markets to satisfy European and South American demand. In this episode of the Commodities Focus podcast, Americas freight senior managing editor Barbara Troner speaks with EMEA middle distillate editor Rowan Staden-Coats and shipping editors Sameer...

In this special episode of the Commodities Focus podcast from S&P Global Commodity Insights, Vincent Valk, senior editor of Chemical Week, and Luke Milner, managing editor of the EMEA olefins and polymers team, discuss the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on European polymer markets, whether buyers in Europe are avoiding Russian material and the impact of the recent reduction in demand.

High and volatile oil prices exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine crisis is raising questions as to when and if it will lead to demand destruction and renewed investment in the energy sector. Jeff Currie, head of commodity research at Goldman Sachs talks to associate director Paul Hickin about the infancy of what he has been calling a new commodity supercycle and the supply challenges ahead.

With 2022's volatile gas prices causing uncertainty across the energy markets, the case for LNG as a marine fuel has been shaken. LNG has previously been called the frontrunner in the race for alternative marine fuels – is that still the case? Editors Sam Eckett and Piers de Wilde are joined by analyst Anastasia Zania to look at the current state of the market, and the future outlook for LNG bunke...

US states are ramping up their decarbonization goals in legislation, and corporations are committing to powering their operations with renewables. Enter Renewable Energy Certificates. What role do RECs play in the energy transition, and do they bring more clarity or challenges to the race to decarbonize? Global power manager Amy Gasca leads the discussion with power pricing analyst Nicole Baqueriz...

Asia's LNG market has been disrupted by the war in Ukraine at a time when supply was already tight because of outages, low inventories and a rebound in economic activity. Global gas prices continue to flirt with record high levels with every escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The unwinding from Russian gas supply threatens to further disrupt spot trade and long-term gas dependence for Asia...

The global fuel oil market is currently going through a turmoil on account of the lower Russian oil flowing into the marine fuel oil pool and a fair share of blending components being used to produce higher margin transportation fuels. Tightening sanctions on Russian oil has seen newer trade flows emerge. As Asian markets gear up for peak summer demand, trade flows are poised to undergo further ch...

Center-South Brazil's crop officially started on April 1, and although more than 70% of the expected sugar exports are already hedged, there is still flexibility for the allocation of the sugarcane mix to switch between sugar and ethanol. The final mix will largely depend on the relative prices of sugar and ethanol, which are exposed to several factors such as international oil prices, the Brazili...

The global natural gas market is exhibiting record volatility, with prices at unprecedented levels as Russia's invasion of Ukraine casts a cloud of uncertainty over the future of Europe's supply mix. LNG has however emerged as a key source of flexibility for the European market, with active competition with Asia for volumes leading to record deliveries in the first quarter of 2022. In the latest C...

Nickel prices hit an unprecedented $101,365/mt in early trading on March 8 following a historic short squeeze on pure nickel and have been volatile ever since.  China, the world's largest consumer of nickel, has seen trading activity for nickel sulfate, an important component of nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) batteries, fall to an all-time low. This comes at a time the China is witnessing booming d...

A constant rush of imports has commanded short supply of equipment needed to move out exports of resins used to make everything from grocery bags and shampoo bottles to vinyl siding and vehicle dashboards. After US resin producers struggled through a year of severe weather that squeezed supply, they entered 2022 with multiple hurdles to restoring those outflows just when more supply is ready to sh...

As more renewable energy enters the grid, wind and solar generators increasingly compete for the same revenue streams. This results in a price cannibalization risk, in which renewables erode their own value over time. Recent renewable penetration trends in North America with wind and solar capacity additions are already showing signs of eroding prices in regions such as ERCOT and SPP. Managing edi...

The commercial and financial ramifications of the  Russia-Ukraine conflict will be felt for a long time. As the conflict escalates, sanctions have been imposed on Russian banks and shipping companies. This has meant that many companies are reluctant or unable to trade with Russia. In this podcast, S&P Global Commodity Insights' Pradeep Rajan, Sameer C. Mohindru, Zhuwei Wang and Shriram Sivaramakri...

The natural gas storage situation in North America has fluctuated wildly this winter, quickly moving from a surplus to a growing deficit in the US. Meanwhile, Canada's inventories have teetered near historical lows all winter. In response, key hubs throughout the US and Canada are maintaining prices not seen since 2008, the early days of the US shale boom, as Henry Hub forwards recently posted rec...

Asia's LPG demand has been growing over the last decade, led by China's mushrooming petrochemical sector. India's LPG demand has also grown due to large subsidy-driven household consumption. But major Middle Eastern exporters have to grapple with growing competition from other producers, led by the shale-driven US natural gas liquids sector. In a move to win back traditional buyers and entrench th...

Copper prices were on a roller-coaster ride in 2021 with demand recovery in US and Europe, logistics issues, COVID-19 disruptions and power cuts in China all contributing to the price fluctuations. Futures backwardation also hit a historical high in 2021.  In 2022, increasing supply from new and existing mines is likely to be one of the key factors to watch out for. On this week's Commodities Focu...

Enterprise Products Partners co-CEO Jim Teague and Chris D'Anna, senior vice president of petrochemicals, discuss the energy storage and transportation titan's push into upstream petrochemicals that will feed growing plastics demand over the next decade. The company is a key delivery point for physically settled futures markets, with global hydrocarbon risk management from the wellhead to waterbor...

The World Petroleum Congress in Houston brought back a sense of normalcy to the energy sector as both the industry and the world continue to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. But the other existential threat for fossil fuels is the burgeoning energy transition and switch to cleaner sources of power and fuels. At the conference, many oil and gas executives pushed back at the notion of a seamle...

The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany is one of the most controversial energy infrastructure projects in history. Now complete, there remains uncertainty over when the 55 Bcm/year project will begin commercial flows. On this week's Commodities Focus podcast, S&P Global Platts Henry Edwardes-Evans, Stuart Elliott, Gary Hornby and James Huckstepp discuss the project's history, the ma...

US natural gas and power markets are strengthening as the heart of winter heating season nears.    In this podcast, editors from S&P Global Platts power and natural gas teams discuss spot and forward pricing, weather outlooks, major trends, and market fundamentals impacting the winter outlook. With power and gas prices rising across the board, we investigate how these markets have evolved from the...