Commodities Focus

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.

S&P Global Platts editor Eric Yep and pricing specialists Fred Wang and Srijan Kanoi examine the impact of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, on China's coal and LNG markets, and take a look at potential demand centers that could absorb existing supplies in the market.

Amid prolonged drought in Thailand , the latest S&P Global Platts Commodities Focus podcast investigates the damage to the country's vital agriculture sector . This has been most keenly-felt in the rice industry , and EMEA agriculture lead Robert Beaman discusses the latest developments in production and prices with rice expert Stephen Jones. They are joined by rice team manager Charlotte James an...

Hydrogen is seen across all sectors of the economy, from transportation to industry, power generation and domestic heat, as a potential decarbonisation tool. Huge questions remain about the cost and route to market of low and zero carbon H2 production, and whether governments and industry are willing and able to step up and accelerate a transition to meaningful scale. This episode of the Commoditi...

With natural gas prices bumping down to record lows and supplies set to increase in the coming years, sellers of gas into Europe are keeping everything crossed that coal and nuclear closures will galvanize a new dash-for-gas in generation markets. Platts news and analytics experts compare notes on the state of the market, the outlook for pipeline and LNG supply and the prospects for new gas burn i...

With India's domestic steel prices staging a recovery, steelmakers have shifted their focus to their home markets. However, they remain cautious about any repercussions from COVID-19, fundamentally slow demand growth, an uninspiring Union Budget, and ongoing auctions for mining leases. Will India's domestic market continue showing strength in the face of these developments? S&P Global Platts Asian...

Steel and raw materials markets have been particularly affected by the coronavirus, as two of the key demand sectors – construction and manufacturing – remain in limbo awaiting workers to return. Meanwhile, deliveries of raw materials have been held up by logistical constraints, while mills are tentatively starting to trade again. Paul Bartholomew, S&P Global Platts head of market insight for meta...

A little over a month into the IMO 2020 switch from 3.5% to 0.5% sulfur bunker fuels, the lifting of US sanctions on COSCO-owned tankers and dented crude oil and jet fuel demand due to the coronavirus outbreak had tanker freight take a u-turn and re-open arbitrage flows from the US Gulf Coast. Marieke Alsguth, Barbara Troner and Catherine Wood of the S&P Global Platts shipping team talk about how...

From the bursting bubble of palm oil prices, to the soybean harvests of South America and the far-reaching impact of the coronavirus , the global vegetable oil markets are multi-faceted and dynamic. Join Robert Beaman, George Duke, Anu Das, Rafael Savoia and Huw Shortland to understand the complicated and fast-moving world of vegetable oils, and why prices have come under pressure in recent weeks.

The coronavirus outbreak, which has been declared by the World Health Organization as a global health emergency, is expected to slowdown economic growth in China, the world's largest crude oil, iron ore and soybean importer, and steel exporter. S&P Global Platts Analytics, Insight and Pricing teams gather to take a deep dive into the demand and price impact of the outbreak on the commodity markets...

Brazil, the largest fuel consumer in South America, has been going through many changes in fuel consumption and pricing dynamics. Since state-led oil company Petrobras started to follow the international price parity reference for gasoline and diesel, E100 hydrous ethanol consumption has started to spike due to a favorable price advantage for consumers. Brazilian drivers have shifted their consump...

A new decade is bringing new challenges for US power markets. The renewables buildout continues to disrupt the market in ways never seen before, mild winter weather and very weak natural gas prices have depressed power prices, and the PG&E situation is ever evolving. Kassia Micek, Mark Watson and Jeff Ryser of the Platts Americas Power Team look at the biggest stories across the US power market an...

In light of the proposed Green Deal to make Europe carbon neutral by 2050, it is clear that the energy transition is on the forefront of policymakers' minds. Roman Kramarchuk and Dan Klein of S&P Global Platts Analytics put the European energy transition into a global context, and the likelihood of meeting 2-degree warming targets.

We're one month into the new IMO 2020 sulphur cap and Container Editor George Griffiths and Dry Bulk Editor Sam Eckett look at how the container and dry bulk freight markets are reacting at this time, whilst keeping a fairweather eye on Lunar New Year and the rapid spread of coronavirus which is eating into customer confidence in the freight world.

January 28 marks the one-year anniversary of sanctions imposed by the US Department of Treasury on Venezuela's state-run oil producer, PDVSA, which has been translated as a de facto ban on Venezuelan crude exports to the US market. Since then, PDVSA has seen a deterioration of its oil industry and has struggled to sell its crude barrels in international markets. In contrast, other Latin American c...

With 2020 bringing increased blending and greenhouse gas saving mandates to the EU biofuels market, the latest S&P Global Platts Commodities Focus podcast looks at why the ethanol market exists and how EU ethanol mandates filter through to the daily experience of road users. EMEA agriculture pricing lead Robert Beaman discusses current market trends with biofuels managing editor Chrysa Glystra and...

S&P Global Platts senior natural gas writer Harry Weber and S&P Global Market Intelligence natural gas reporter Corey Paul discuss with Platts head of Americas gas news Joe Fisher the outlook for US LNG export projects following the initial trade agreement that the US and China signed January 15. The agreement keeps tit-for-tat tariffs from escalating, but existing Chinese duties on imports of US...

Chinese crude steel production had a bumper year in 2019, rising 8.3% to just short of 1 billion mt, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. S&P Global Platts steel specialists Paul Bartholomew and Jing Zhang revisit the factors that underpinned the growth in China's steel output last year, and examine the drivers that could support and impact the country's steel production in 2020.