Commodities Focus

The pricing power of domestic mills in Brazil was built on strengthening Chinese steel prices over the past few months, putting Brazilian steel products near discounts against imported material. Historically, sustainable import parity premiums for domestic flats and longs over imported goods were...

The European paraxylene market is seeing significant changes this year as fundamental shifts in global demand and supply yield opportunities and challenges for the region. The start-up of a new downstream PTA plant in Portugal has placed the region in a net short position, and Europe will now have...

North American power pricing specialists Kelli Ainsworth, Kassia Micek and Jeff Zhou, all based in Houston, look back on how US power markets fared over the summer, where ERCOT markets sizzled out, but California markets reached decade high prices. Kelli, Kassia and Jeff also turn their attention...

As the bunkering industry gears up for the International Maritime Organization's tighter sulfur emission standards from 2020 onward, is the blending of biofuels a viable way to reduce emissions? S&P Global Platts senior biofuel specialist George Griffiths and fuel oil associate editor Emma...

When US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on steel imports earlier this year, the impacts went far beyond that industry, with ripple effects for crude oil, natural gas, LNG export projects and petrochemicals. S&P Global Platts editors Michael Fitzgerald, Kristen Hays, Starr Spencer and...

A unique season for the 2018-19 sugarcane crop in North-Northeast Brazil is starting to shape up, with producers expected to maximize ethanol production. And for the first time since 2010-11 producers are expected to focus on hydrous production, which is already is triggering higher anhydrous...

S&P Global Platts senior pricing specialists John DeLapp and Veda Chowdhury discuss the changing natural gas storage picture in the Midwest. Although stocks are running well behind the five-year average build, market participants do not seem to be concerned. John and Veda explain why. Related...

Join us for a discussion of how US-China trade tensions and tariffs are rocking the US petrochemical industry and markets for chemicals and plastics. Participating are Kristen Hays, senior petrochemicals editor; Chris Ferrell, managing editor of olefins and polymers; and Phillipe Craig, associate...

Up in the summer, down in the winter. What is going on with your gasoline? Jeff Bair and Seth Clare of Platts' light ends team discuss the influence of RVP on US gasoline assessments and how they provide a wrinkle into how fuel was priced during Hurricane Florence. Download: S&P Global Platts...

S&P Global Platts senior natural gas writer Harry Weber, LNG Editorial Lead for Asia Pacific and the Middle East Abache Abreu and Managing Editor Gas & Power Joe Fisher preview next week's Gastech conference in Barcelona. They analyze the key themes and what the global gas and LNG...

A unique season for the 2018-19 sugarcane crop in Center-South Brazil is resulting in the highest ethanol mix in 10 years. What have been the impacts in the supply-and-demand dynamics in the world's largest sugarcane producer and second-biggest ethanol market? Can demand catch up with the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Asian leaders at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, September 11-13, 2018, where discussions are likely to be dominated by trade tensions and North Korea peace talks, as well as the most promising areas for future cooperation. S&P Global Platts...

S&P Global Platts Editor Kate Winston and Senior Manager Matthew Eversman discuss the Affordable Clean Energy rule and whether this new legislation will have an impact on the US generation mix.

Coal stockpiles at US utilities and natural gas storage are both down this year rather significantly, but prices have yet to react. Andrew Moore, managing editor of Platts Coal Trader, says increasing gas production is one reason prices have stayed low, which is also limiting coal demand. But with...

Brazil, the world's largest soybean exporter, is bound to be nearly alone in providing the oilseed to China with competitive prices, after the Asian country imposed a 25% tariff on US exports. However, uncertainties around Brazilian domestic freight costs make the scenario for the South...

Senior Pricing Specialists Samer Mosis, Arsalan Syed and John DeLapp of the S&P Global Platts North American Natural Gas team discuss the behavior of the often-volatile Southern California gas market this summer. They dissect and analyze the market fundamentals behind a recent price surge and...

S&P Global Platts reporter Harry Weber and Senior Managing Editor Matt Eversman discuss the outlook for further US LNG export growth amid the escalation of international trade disputes. They analyze the impact on projects currently being developed on the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts and...

S&P Global Platts editors Seth Clare and Jeffrey Bair talk about gasoline trade flow from the US to Australia and China to Mexico and the short-term supply situations that are driving markets on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Also, there's a review of some of the bullish indications for US...

The Texas Port of Corpus Christi is positioning itself to be the prime energy export port in the US, despite trade wars and sanctions. In a conversation with S&P Global Platts senior editor Ashok Dutta and managing editor Gary Gentile, the port's CEO Sean Strawbridge outlines his plans to...

The liner carriers, which haul all consumer goods and many bulk commodities around the world, have faced serious challenges over the past few years. Jason Silber of S&P Global Platts Ocean Intelligence talks with Andrew Scorer, Platts senior editor for containers about the headwinds in the...

S&P Global Platts reporter Harry Weber, Managing Editor Scott Ickes and independent LNG analyst Ted Michael discuss the outlook for further LNG export growth from the US and Canada, which country will launch the second wave of liquefaction terminals with a positive final investment decision, what...

The European polyethylene terephthalate market is set to face a supply drought in the foreseeable future amid lingering scarcity of feedstock purified terephthalic acid in the region. With the peak summer demand season nearing, S&P Global Platts managing editor for EMEA petrochemicals, Ng...

The North American power pricing team takes a coast-to-coast look at summer power prices, as well as forecast demand and generating capacity for ERCOT, Cal-ISO and the PJM Interconnection. Kassia Micek, Jeff Zhou and Meaghan Coleman evaluate how the power markets are shaping up as hot weather and...

Key oil players will gather in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on May 24-26 to discuss key issues including the fate of the OPEC+ crude production cut deal and the impact of US sanctions on international energy markets. High-profile political guests including French President Emmanuel Macron and...

Abdulrahman S. Al-Fageeh, SABIC Executive Vice President - Petrochemicals, joins S&P Global Platts Editor Frank Zeng in this episode of the Platts Commodities Spotlight podcast, recorded at the ChinaPlas Conference 2018, to talk about company updates, the implications of the trade tension between...