Commodities Focus

Adverse weather events due to climate change are increasingly impacting agriculture. In this podcast, S&P Global Commodity Insights reporters  Shikha Singh  and  Mugunthan Kesavan  speak to  Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig,  Senior Research Scientist with NASA, and recipient of the 2022 World Food Prize Award on greenhouse emissions, rising temperatures and their impact on agriculture. James McMahon ,   CE...

As EU sanctions on Russian crude and oil products come into force, the Baltic and Black Sea shipping markets face uncertainty. In this episode of the Platts Commodities Focus podcast, our EMEA Tanker Editors and Freight Analytics team delve into the challenges and opportunities facing shipowners in these regions. From navigating new strategies to considering the potential impact of these sanctions...

Price regulation plays an important political and economic role in emerging countries, and Latin American countries this year have faced oil price volatility that has forced them to look for buffer alternatives. News experts Jeff Mower and Sheky Espejo sat down with pricing experts Maria Jimenez and Sarah Hernandez to discuss how price regulation has been applied in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico and...

Demand for moving goods around the world has dramatically fallen as the cost of living rises and consumers start to tighten their belts. However, many shipowners have been left with bumper profits accumulated during the peak. Are freight rates going to continue their downward trend? How will the market react to the upcoming ESG regulations? In the latest Platts Commodities Focus podcast, our conta...

As the oil and gas industry works to find its footing in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic it now faces a world transformed, with new risks stemming from Russia's war in Ukraine and brewing global economic headwinds. In their third quarter earnings, oil industry executives appeared to diverge on their outlooks for the sector. Upstream players, hamstrung by capacity constraints, are maintaining...

With Luis Inacio Lula de Silva returning to the presidency in Brazil after 12 years, the agriculture industry anticipates its market fundamentals could be impacted by an increasingly progressive agenda. Some defining issues include how Lula's government will deal with Petrobras' fuel price policy; fuel subsidy mechanisms; regulation of the biodiesel mandate; and the Renovabio program. In this epis...

Market participants expect a supply glut in 2022-23 amid record Brazilian soybean output forecast by different agencies. If Brazil can produce a huge volume of the oilseed in the upcoming marketing year, that could have major implications for US soybeans exporters and for Chinese demand.  In this podcast, S&P Global Commodity Insights agriculture experts Asim Anand, Rafael Savoia, Pete Meyer and E...

LNG markets are in the spotlight after the Russia-Ukraine war, with Asia and Europe both competing for limited cargoes.  A harsher than expected winter may trigger unprecedented changes in LNG trade flows and force many Asian governments to implement contingency measures to tackle power outages. In a discussion ahead of the  Asia LNG & Hydrogen Gas Markets Conference ,  S&P Global Commodity Insigh...

With global container shipping costs coming down, European polymer markets are seeing offers of material from the Far East rise, adding pressure to prices in an already over supplied environment. Platts Petrochemicals editors Abdulaziz Ehtaiba, Hui Heng and Daniel Pelosi, and Containers editor George Griffiths talk about the logistical landscape and the fallout it is causing in the polymer markets...

As gas supply disruptions send shockwaves across the world, the ability and capacity to store energy has come under close scrutiny. Associate Director Paul Hickin discusses with gas and power editors Stuart Elliott and Kira Savcenko whether Europe has enough energy in reserve to get through the winter, the challenges of providing sufficient back-up from both fossil fuels and alternative sources, t...

Used cooking oil (UCO) or vegetable oil unfit for human consumption has found a new life as feedstock for biofuels like Used Cooking Oil Methyl Ester (UCOME). UCO is also used to produce renewable distillates like sustainable aviation fuel and hydrotreated vegetable oil. With governments across the world pledging emission-reduction targets and increased capacity coming online, the demand for UCO i...

In this episode of the Commodities Focus podcast, S&P Global Petrochemicals Editor Abdulaziz Ehtaiba talks with Univar Solutions' Nick Powell, board member at FECC, about events like Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as factors like inflationary pressures in Europe, and how they are impacting the chemicals distribution industry.

US steel and polymer producers rode a wave of soaring prices for their products in 2021 as the economy roared back from the coronavirus pandemic and construction activity boomed. The hot building market brought with it an uptick in demand for steel and polymers. But the fun couldn't last forever. Rising interest rates are tamping down inflation, and the construction industry is feeling the pain. S...

US summer power markets are just warming up. A heat wave hit the central US in mid-July , leading to multiple alerts and records across two grid footprints, and a late July heat wave brought triple-digit temperatures to the Pacific Northwest, shrinking power exports to neighboring regions in the West. But the summer demand season is far from over, as forecasts for summer-like temperatures now exte...

Australia's ban on export of alumina to Russia following the war in Ukraine sent prices on a rollercoaster ride in the first half of 2022. Uncertainties surrounding the supply-demand dynamics and policies continue to loom ahead. In the aluminum markets, Chinese smelters have been ramping up production but are facing operational losses, while elevated energy prices and operational challenges threat...

Amid geopolitical risks threatening the key wheat-growing Black Sea region, Canadian wheat is taking on a bigger role in the global spotlight for this key food crop as recently launched CME futures give additional tools for those looking at FOB Vancouver wheat. Join agriculture managing editor Josh Pedrick and senior pricing specialists Luke Lundgren and Alexandre Bobylov as they talk through the...

India's imposition of steep tariffs on steel exports has put global markets in a tizzy, with unanswered questions on the longevity of the policy, immediate benefits to domestic end-users and strategies that local mills could adopt to manage excess inventories. In this podcast, S&P Global Commodity Insights' experts, Senior Editor Ashima Tyagi  and Lead Analyst  Paul Bartholomew , discuss with  Aru...

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.