Commodities Focus

April was the nadir of the global demand slump from COVID-19 lockdowns while swinging output cuts from OPEC+ and a slump in US drilling hit production volumes across the board. Oil and gas producers have also been grappling with more pessimism over long term oil demand, have written down asset values and some have stepped up their energy transition game. S&P Global Platts senior writer Robert Perk...

Brazil has shifted to become a net importer of primary aluminum since 2014, but the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the market outlook. Is the increase in Brazilian P1020 exports here to stay? How does this situation impact domestic supply? Adriana Carvalho and Henrique Riberiro of S&P Global Platts look at those issues and more.

Amy Gasca, Daryna Kotenko and Veda Chowdhury of S&P Global Platts discuss West power and natural gas markets and how current market fundamentals are shaping spot and forwards pricing for the remainder of the summer.

Ira Joseph, head of gas and power for Platts Analytics, and Ryan Ouwerkerk, manager of Americas natural gas pricing for S&P Global Platts, look at the other side of the supply-demand equation, ranging from LNG cargoes pricing out pipeline deliveries to the prospects for further demand growth in the oversupplied and depressed pricing environment.

Over a decade after the first flight using sustainable aviation fuel took off, SAF has gained prominence in airlines' sustainability tool boxes as the industry tackles its collective carbon footprint. Growing consumer awareness around the environmental impact of the transportation industry has added to this global dialogue. SAF has made inroads into the US via California however producers and airl...

China appears to be almost singlehandedly supporting global metals prices on the back of a return to high levels of industrial activity. But other Asian markets are still slowly emerging from Covid-19 related lockdowns. How is this impacting iron ore, steel, coking coal, scrap and alumina demand and prices? Julien Hall, director of Metals for APAC, S&P Global Platts, and Paul Bartholomew, head of...

S&P Global Platts senior natural gas writer Harry Weber and S&P Global Market Intelligence midstream finance reporter Allison Good preview with senior digital editor Jason Lindquist the upcoming release of second-quarter earnings results by companies in the North American midstream sector. The April-June period covered the peak of the impact on demand from the coronavirus pandemic, so this will be...

Brian Gilvary spent almost a decade as chief financial officer of supermajor BP until he stepped down in June 2020. In an interview with Andy Critchlow and Robert Perkins from S&P Global Platts, Gilvary discusses a broad range of subjects including his career at BP; the challenges of reducing carbon emissions for hydrocarbons producers; living with $40/b crude and how hydrogen can transform the en...

Ira Joseph, head of gas and power for Platts Analytics, and Ryan Ouwerkerk, manager of Americas natural gas pricing for S&P Global Platts, take a look at oversupply in global natural gas markets.

What might the US shale investor risk-reward equation look like as the market shows some signs of rebalancing and as lockdowns begin to ease? How long will it take the US shale sector to repair soured investor confidence? Tim Perry, managing director at Credit Suisse, digs into those topics and more with Jeff Mower, director of Americas oil news at S&P Global Platts.

Jared Anderson, Kassia Micek and Manan Ahuja of S&P Global Platts delve into changing power market dynamics as coronavirus-related lockdowns ease in many areas and look ahead to see where market conditions might be headed for the remainder of 2020 and into next year.

Labour shortages have been one of the key problems caused by the coronavirus crisis in the rice market. Robert Beaman talks to senior rice editors Rebecca Li and Peter Storey about how the Indian rice industry and its competitors have coped with access to labour during lockdown and the consequent market disruptions, while Piero Carello considers some of the lessons learnt by the agriculture sector...

US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette joins Chris Newkumet, Washington bureau chief for S&P Global Platts, to discuss the state of America's energy markets -- what we know, where we are, and what's ahead. Topic for discussion include US oil production and exports, new oil price benchmarks, LNG trade flows, the future for US coal, and the ongoing energy transition.

S&P Global Platts journalists discuss European gas, power and carbon market trends going into the third quarter of 2020. The markets saw price support in June as economies began to emerge from coronavirus lockdowns – but any faltering in demand or rebound in gas flows could undermine these trends, as could a modest uptick in French nuclear availability.

The annual acreage report from the US Department of Agriculture saw a 5 million acre drop in corn planting from the Prospective Plantings report at the end of March. The resultant rise in corn prices coupled with low ethanol stocks lifted ethanol prices, the S&P Global Platts benchmark Chicago Argo terminal ethanol price reached its highest level in eight months seven on July 7. Join Sophie Byron,...

The death of George Floyd in the US on May 25 significantly raised global awareness of racial and cultural issues. Within this environment, giant resources company Rio Tinto attracted opprobrium for the destruction of an indigenous sacred site in Western Australia during the expansion of an iron ore mine. In light of this, how might ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) play a bigge...

S&P Global Platts managing editor Laura Varriale talks to steel news editor Annalisa Villa and pricing specialists Amanda Flint and Len Griffin about the state of the European steel industry after lockdowns start to ease across mainland Europe, sparking hope for more industry activity.

In the UK, the drive toward Net Zero 2050 makes hydrogen an attractive investment, but questions remain about how markets will develop and the associated costs. Hydrogen has vast potential to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy transport, home heating and industry, but the path to decarbonisation is still not entirely clear. Jeffrey McDonald speaks with Corin Taylor, principal consulta...

As the push towards clean fuels intensifies, many alternate energy sources are figuring in discussions among policy makers in Asia, as they prepare for energy transition. One fuel that has garnered a lot of attention is hydrogen. From finding low-cost production methods to creating a transparent price discovery mechanism, hydrogen has a few challenges to overcome to make bigger inroads into leadin...

S&P Global Platts global thermal coal experts Deepak Kannan, Fred Wang and Sarah Matthews discuss key developments driving coal demand in the South Asian region, specifically in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and explain how Platts new assessments shed light on the price impact and supply-demand fundamentals in the region.

France's Total was the first mover among European oil and gas majors to announce its ambition to become a greener company, creating in 2016 a separate division for gas, renewables and power under the leadership of Philippe Sauquet. Sauquet joined S&P Global Platts on June 10 for an in-depth chat about Total's strategy, its ambitions to grow the business, and challenges facing the sector given low...

After a collapse in oil demand due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the accord between Saudi Arabia and Russia earlier this year, OPEC+ is now back in the driving seat. It has extended its unprecedented production cut deal through July, tried to crack down on those that lack the will power to deliver their share and brought in frequent market monitoring in a bid to react quickly to rapidly changi...

S&P Global Platts Asia thermal coal team Deepak Kannan, Fred Wang and Jenny Ma discuss key developments in Northeast and Southeast Asia region amid the coronavirus pandemic, while Platts Analytics analyst Matthew Boyle gives a peek into the outlook for coal demand and supply-demand fundamentals for the rest of 2020.

US working natural gas in storage started the injection season with levels well above the five-year average. After the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, heavy US demand destruction was anticipated, which would add to the storage glut. However, residential and commercial and gas-fired generation demand have remained resilient. From a global perspective, the pandemic has led to a steep drop in US L...

As lockdowns ease off and upstream markets begin to recover, the petrochemical sector looks carefully at its own end user demand, as well as to Asian export opportunities. Callum Colford and Abdulaziz Ehtaiba tell Ora Lazic about market fundamentals in the European olefins and their derivatives going into H2 2020, and review what the post-pandemic recovery might look like.