Commodities Focus

Pandemic oil demand destruction has converted clean products tankers into offshore storage containers as onshore storage is approaching tank top. Forced floating storage as a result of discharge problems has the products tanker markets buzzing arguably at a faster pace at present than their larger sisters on the crude side. Barbara Troner, Marieke Alsguth and Chris To of the S&P Global Platts ship...

Coal markets are giving way to the coronavirus pandemic as cascaded demand and international government regulations left producers presented with the complex decision to slash supply. Sarah Matthews discusses the situation with EMEA coal market specialist Joseph Clarke, Asia market specialist Fred Wang and Jenny Ma, and Americas market specialists Tyler Godwin and Olivia Kalb.

California is showing significant power price drops as a result oversupply, congestion and decreasing demand, with renewable curtailments increasing.

S&P Global Platts senior natural gas writer Harry Weber and S&P Global Market Intelligence midstream finance reporter Allison Good preview the upcoming release of first-quarter earnings results by companies in the North American midstream sector. It will be the first opportunity for the market to see how extensive the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been on operators of pipelines, processin...

US crude storage has quickly become an overwhelmingly important issue as the global market continues to grapple with an oversupply of crude and dramatically dwindling demand in light of the coronavirus pandemic. A steep contango in the oil market structure has created the huge incentive for traders and producers to store away their barrels instead of selling it on a prompt physical basis and this...

Global demand for commodities has been obliterated. From copper as a barometer of the global economy to oil as a potential inflation hedge, no commodity has escaped the impact of coronavirus. Jeff Currie, head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs and someone who identified the commodities supercycle in the 2000s, did a Q&A with the London news team at S&P Global Platts on 7th April hosted by P...

US power markets are following similar trends from Asia and Europe following the coronavirus track, which is creating supply and demand challenges. Peakload averages were down more than 10% in March compared with a year earlier, power dailies have yet to see a dramatic impact, and pricing forwards experienced movement that was more drastic in March for April and May packages.

S&P Gloal Platts senior natural gas writer Harry Weber and S&P Global Market Intelligence natural gas reporter Corey Paul discuss with Platts senior digital editor Jason Lindquist current trends in the North American and global LNG markets amid ongoing headwinds, including low prices, narrow margins, shifting trade flows and a significant dropoff in commercial activity that has been exacerbated by...

With COVID-19 lockdowns in Europe rapidly bringing the petrochemical demand into a lull, pressure on the upstream naphtha market has become two-fold in the recent weeks. Travel restrictions and the progressive loss in demand from the petrochemical sector have added extra weight. S&P Global Platts ethylene and naphtha editors look closely at the cycle of events since the coronavirus breakout.

S&P Global Platts agriculture specialists Liz Thang, Rafael Savoia, Sergio Alvarado, and Andrei Agapi examine the factors driving corn prices as trading communities in Asia and the Americas try to manage market volatility and logistics disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the usual weather issues.

The tsunami of IMO 2020 turned into a tidal wave of cheap oil as producers flood the crude oil market and refiners cut runs amid the COVID-19 demand destruction. In the meantime crude is heading toward containment in tankers floating offshore. Catherine Wood and Barbara Troner of the S&P Global Platts shipping team put their heads together with Platts crude editor Kristian Tialios to explore the d...

Metals like aluminum and steel had been relatively unaffected as COVID-19 began to spread in the US, but the shift came as automakers – including The Big 3 and others – announced temporary production stoppages in North America. Auto is a growing demand sector for aluminum. Another big consumer – the aerospace industry – has been gutted as airlines have slashed flights and Boeing announced a tempor...

The shipping markets are often considered a bellwether of global trade, and the dry bulk and container markets are on their knees due to the coronavirus pandemic. Editors George Griffiths and Sam Eckett take a look at whether there are any positive signs of global economic recovery in the seaborne markets while on-shore market participants remain bound to their living rooms.

Global commodity markets have been hit by a combination of the oil price war and the coronavirus pandemic, and European wheat is no exception. Robert Beaman talks to senior grains editor Alexandre Bobylov about how the French and Black Sea Wheat markets are reacting, while Piero Carello looks at how the pandemic and fluctuating exchange rates are affecting the agriculture logistics chain.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted all aspects of daily life and US power markets are not immune. With the majority of people staying at home, per recommendations to stop the spread of the disease, grid operators are keeping a close eye on changes in power demand and how to respond.

Cash prices for US diesel and jet fuel markets have been under heavy pressure since the coronavirus outbreak hit the US. Jet fuel has seen the worst impact, with prices falling to multiyear lows. Diesel prices have mostly avoided any large drops, but it's unclear how long that will last. Ellie Valencia, senior pricing specialist for US jet fuel; and Margaret Rogers, senior pricing specialist, US d...

S&P Global Platts market specialists Kirsten Hays, Eric Su, and Simon Price join associate director Vanessa Ronsisvalle to give a global view on how the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the recent oil price crash are affecting petrochemical markets, with particular focus on blendstocks, olefins, and aromatics.

Unlike other commodities sectors, the domestic steel market seemed to be largely immune during the first few weeks of Covid-19's spread across the US. Prices held relatively steady and mill production was fairly constant, with most participants basically in wait-and-see mode, but concern was limited. The scenario has shifted dramatically in recent days. The Big 3 automakers of GM, Ford and Fiat-Ch...

China's long-awaited value-added-tax rebate on fuel oil paved the way for domestic producers to supply bunker fuel to ships plying international routes at Chinese ports. A month after its implementation, S&P Global Platts fuel oil experts Su Ling Teo and Rajesh Nair examine what has changed and what the road ahead looks like for China's bunker market, and whether it the country is getting closer t...

With commodities weakening on the back of the coronavirus epidemic and the oil price crash, Robert Beaman of S&P Global Platts talks to sugar specialists Nicolle Monteiro de Castro and Beatriz Pupo about the impact on the Brazilian sugar market. Brazilian sugar has been in the news following February's reversal of fortunes in Brazil's Center-South region, which saw sugar prices starting to pay pro...

US LNG developers face challenges advancing any new export projects this year amid the escalating coronavirus outbreak, which has exacerbated the drop in global demand that has already led to record-low prices in Asia. Decision makers are lamenting that for the foreseeable future China's door appears to be shut to US LNG, and that has put the sector in hunker-down mode as participants try to ride...

With oil prices off roughly 30% in the past week in face of falling demand triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, impacts in the downstream are far-reaching. Changes in crude flows, refinery operations, LNG development and petrochemical price dynamics all are newly in play. Editors from S&P Global Platts and S&P Global Market Intelligence explore market and industry dynamics triggered by the extre...

The ongoing and extreme volatility in world oil markets has triggered a range of industry dynamics in the US. Editors from S&P Global Platts and S&P Global Market Intelligence examine the latest market news, with a particular focus on upstream US oil, gas and LNG operations. Coming soon: Part 2: Downstream impacts

S&P Global Platts refined products experts Wendy Cheong and Wanda Wang focus on the impact of lockdown policies in parts of China on petrochemical deliveries, the buildup in stocks, and the effect on the Asian naptha market.

Clean energy resource capacity in PJM Interconnection states has been increasing in recent years, often spurred by state programs that provide financial support. In response, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's December 19 order aimed to combat the potential price-suppressing effects of subsidized resource participation, setting off a scramble to assess the impacts of the rule.