Commodities Focus

S&P Global Platts ethylene market experts  Chris Liu  and  Astrid Torres  join  Vanessa Ronsisvalle  in taking a deep dive into the state of the ethylene market as the world continues the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Asia's growing appetite for one of the most important feedstocks in the petrochemical chain, and trade flows from the United States to Asia.

Ira Joseph, head of gas and power for S&P Global Platts Analytics, and Ryan Ouwerkerk, manager of Americas natural gas pricing for S&P Global Platts, take stock of the market a few weeks into winter, revisiting several topics from the bulls vs. bears discussion and how they are holding up in early winter.

With India's domestic steel prices touching decade high numbers, steelmakers have exited the export markets for good. However, scarcity of supply remains a concern as demand recovery across sectors resurfaces after a long period of subdued activity. The market remains cautious about the sustainability of high prices amid the possibility of recurring COVID-19 waves and domestic iron ore shortages....

This year has been a roller-coaster ride for the Asian light ends market, as the  coronavirus  pandemic gripped the world, slashed demand for refined oil products and forced the closure of several refineries across the region in its wake. The future of the light ends market will hinge largely on how fast the world progresses in its fight against the pandemic and its economic impact. In this podcas...

Ira Joseph, head of gas and power for Platts Analytics, and Ryan Ouwerkerk, manager of Americas natural gas pricing for S&P Global Platts, are joined by Gary Hornby, managing editor for European gas, to discuss global gas movements as we inch into winter with a specific focus on the increasingly important role of Ukrainian storage and transit in the larger European natural gas market both this win...

The coronavirus pandemic has had opposing effects on the grains and ethanol markets, despite the strong interlinkages between them. While grains are one of the major feedstocks for ethanol production and prices are usually highly correlated, changing demand dynamics as a result of the virus saw the decoupling of this relationship. S&P Global Platts reporters Alex Bobylov and Karim El Afany discuss...

Tanker freight for clean and dirty ships hit multiyear lows in October, subverting winter seasonality which typically brings year highs for freight for both sides of the market. Demand for crude and petroleum products remains low worldwide, and as Europe and the Americas face second- and third-wave lockdowns, tanker market participants have mixed expectations for the rest of the year. Marieke Alsg...

The US Pacific and Mountain regions experienced a slate of outside factors affecting storage volumes during the 2020 injection season. The onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March prompted natural gas demand to drop by as much as 15% during the spring in parts of the Pacific Northwest. The subsequent oil and gas price collapse led producers in surrounding basins to curb production as pipeline ma...

Ira Joseph, head of gas and power for S&P Global Platts Analytics, and Ryan Ouwerkerk, manager of Americas natural gas pricing for S&P Global Platts pivot away from the extended outlook into the winter and dive into more immediate spot market movements and their bullish impact on several global natural gas & LNG pricing points.

Natural gas storage in the US Northeast, which serves as the heart of dry production in the Lower 48, entered the current injection season with volumes towering over normal levels. However, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March, followed by pipeline outages and producers voluntarily shutting in some production, has allowed supply and demand fundamentals to balance. This led to below avera...

S&P Global 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 gas midstream sector as operators of pipelines, processing facilities and liquefaction terminals begin to release third-quarter financial results. The outlook for demand and growth s...

Ira Joseph, head of gas and power for S&P Global Platts Analytics, and Ryan Ouwerkerk, manager of Americas natural gas pricing for S&P Global Platts, are back, this time to lay out the bullish and bearish cases for Henry Hub, TTF and JKM heading into winter. While the key element will be whether winter temperatures will arrive in key global demand markets, listen in to hear about how the interplay...

Front of mind to the California Independent System Operator is resource adequacy, as it also works to adapt the market to the energy transition taking place globally. Outgoing President and CEO Steven Berberich talks with S&P Global Platts editor Kassia Micek about those issues and continuing regional collaboration in the West.

To date, there is no integrated strategic vision for trading low carbon hydrogen, but European gas grid operator SNAMs VP of Hydrogen Cosma Panzacchi discusses ways that could happen over time with S&P Global Platts Hydrogen Content and Pricing Specialist Jeffrey McDonald. Discussion topics include development of the European Hydrogen Backbone, the formation of local vs. international supply chain...

Southwest Power Pool expects wind generation to return to the top of the fuel stack and become the No. 1 fuel source for 2020, while keeping an eye on the evolution of energy storage and continuing its expansion of the Western Energy Imbalance System market. Barbara Sugg discusses her first six months as SPP president & CEO, which started with the challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic, wit...

Ira Joseph, head of gas and power for S&P Global Platts Analytics, and Ryan Ouwerkerk, manager of Americas natural gas pricing for S&P Global Platts, are joined by John Hilfiker, S&P Global Platts Analytics in-house Mexico natural gas expert, to discuss the impact that the long-awaited infrastructure developments in Mexico will have on supply reliability, pricing on both sides of the border, and t...

While a weak orderbook is seen with enthusiasm by tanker owners, who have suffered from increased competition amid structural overtonnage, floating storage enquiries and weaker scrapping prices have caused owners to refrain from scrapping their oldest tonnage in 2020. Our shipping experts discuss the latests developments in an oversupplied freight market. To learn more about the shipping markets,...

In a year of high volatility in the energy basket and more uncertainties than in recent history, S&P Global Platts editors discuss the main aspects that have been supporting Brazilian ethanol prices, despite the turmoil at the beginning of the 2020-21 Center-South crop and plunging demand in 2020. Senior price specialist Nicolle Monteiro de Castro talks with senior biofuels analyst Beatriz Pupo ab...

With trans-Pacific container rates at an all-time high, even more containers are flowing from Asia to the US. The return leg is a different story, however, with empty space frequently seen on board. The US agriculture industry has spotted this crack, and expectations are high that containerized soybeans, wheat, and corn could fill the gap.

Harry Weber, Platts senior natural gas writer in Houston, and Stuart Elliott, editorial lead, Generating Fuels News, in London, discuss with Platts senior digital editor Jason Lindquist themes from the recently completed Gastech virtual conference and the outlook for gas, LNG and the integration of renewables in the energy transition occurring in parts of the world heading into 2021.

Ira Joseph, head of gas and power for S&P Global Platts Analytics, and Ryan Ouwerkerk, manager of Americas natural gas pricing for S&P Global Platts, are back to discuss key uncertainties in the global natural gas and LNG market as winter approaches. With stagnating US production meeting robust storage inventories in US and Europe, will the arrival of winter demand provide further bullish momentum...

Amid a rally in the global vegetable oils markets, Robert Beaman talks to vegetable oils editor George Duke and biodiesel editor Huw Shortland about the latest developments in the market for virgin and used vegetable oils. As supply and demand in these markets changes, the team also look at the impact on biodiesel and the emerging markets for renewable diesel (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (S...

Oil markets have experienced a quiet revolution for over the last decade as proprietary trading houses have gradually replaced the participation of banks. Andy Critchlow, head of news in EMEA for S&P Global Platts, recently caught up with Greg Newman, CEO of London-based prop trader Onyx Capital Group, to discuss the latest developments in oil and the outlook for more participants entering the mar...

S&P Global Platts dry bulk market experts Shriram Sivaramakrishnan, Carina Li, and Isaac Eio examine how the Capesize, Panamax and Supramax markets have fared in this pandemic-stricken trading environment, and what's in store for shipowners and freight rates in the coming months.

The CIS steel industry has emerged from pandemic demand slumps relatively quickly thanks to Chinese demand and government incentives in Russia. Although further challenges lie ahead, production cuts at steel mills appear to be less severe than at their European peers. Platts Managing Editor Laura Varriale is joined by Platts Metals Editors Katya Bouckley and Wojtek Laskowski to discuss the current...