Platts Insight: the essential perspective on global commodities

Yi-Jeng Huang
Senior Market Development Specialist - Asia

China petrochemicals sector braces for global recession as coronavirus leaves economies reeling

March 31, 2020 13:27 UTC

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The expected economic recession in the Asia-Pacific region triggered by the coronavirus pandemic will reverberate across the petrochemical supply chain as global demand grinds to a halt, even as China slowly goes back to work.

“An enormous first-quarter shock in China, shutdowns across the US and Europe [due to] local [coronavirus] transmission, guarantees a recession across the Asia-Pacific,” said Shaun Roache, Asia-Pacific chief economist for S&P Global Ratings on March 30.

“We now expect the hit to output for Asia-Pacific to be as large as the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-1998,” he added.

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ABS, Asia-Pacific, China, coronavirus, LLDPE, PE, PET, plastics, polyester, polyethylene, polystyrene, PTA

S&P Global Platts
News editors

Commodity Tracker: 5 charts to watch this week

March 30, 2020 12:01 UTC

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Demand destruction from the coronavirus outbreak will be top of mind for power and gas traders this week, while the ripples in the oil market are being felt in Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, albeit in different ways. The iron ore market, which is faring better, rounds out this week’s pick of commodity charts by S&P Global Platts news editors

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coronavirus, national oil companies, oil supply, OPEC, steel

Rosemary Griffin
Editor

Insight from Moscow: Are Russia’s war chest and fiscal setup enough to combat OPEC+, coronavirus fallout?

March 27, 2020 10:34 UTC

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The first few months of 2020 saw major changes to Russia’s political and energy landscape, as President Vladimir Putin proposed amendments to the constitution, the country’s crude production agreement with OPEC dramatically collapsed, and the coronavirus pandemic caused chaos on global markets.

Of these factors, the latter two are having a more immediate impact on the Russian energy sector, most evidently in the recent oil price crash.

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coronavirus, energy policy, fiscal policy, oil, oil price, Russia, Saudi Arabia

Claudia Carpenter
Editor, Gulf commodities news

Insight Conversation: Cem Saral, CEO, Cockett Marine Oil

March 26, 2020 10:56 UTC

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Cem Saral, CEO of bunker reseller Cockett Marine Oil, talked with Claudia Carpenter about how shipping has adapted to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 0.5% limit on sulfur in marine fuel effective January 2020, and what comes next.

Cockett Marine Oil, owned by Swiss trader Vitol and South African holding company Grindrod, resold an estimated 5.5 million tons of marine fuel in 2019, versus 6.5 million tons in 2018. Saral was named Cockett CEO in September 2016, after working for Vitol and Chemoil. Cockett handles roughly 18,000 deliveries to customers annually in every single line of shipping. The company has about 185 employees, with about 60 of them in Dubai, the operating headquarters.

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bunker fuels, Cockett Marine Oil, decarbonization, energy transition, IMO 2020, marine fuel, shipping

Shubhlakshmi Shukla, Silvia Favasuli and Elza Turner
Editors, energy

Russia’s hydrogen bet sets up contest with Australia for Japanese market

March 24, 2020 16:31 UTC

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Russia is all set to gain a foothold in the global hydrogen sector in what looks like a bid to be a key supplier for Japan, which has ambitious targets for adoption of the fuel by 2050.

Japan’s plans to quickly develop hydrogen importing facilities seems to have prompted Russia start drawing up plans for a hydrogen economy mostly geared towards global exports, recent developments at Russia’s Energy Ministry and main energy companies suggest.

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decarbonization, energy transition, Europe, Gazprom, hydrogen, Japan, natural gas, Rosatom, Russia

Eric Yep
Senior Editor, ASEAN Content

Asian appetite for petroleum storage, reserves will not save global oil prices: Fuel for Thought

March 24, 2020 08:44 UTC

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China’s insatiable appetite for hoarding oil reserves and the expansive independent petroleum storage capacity from Singapore to South Korea will not be enough to absorb the incoming flood of crude and refined products that threatens to push oil prices even lower.

For decades, Asia’s petroleum storage has expanded via underground salt caverns, independent tank farms, operational storage for mega refineries and even oil stored in pipelines by key companies and trading houses.

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Asia, China, Fujairah, IMO 2020, oil, oil storage, Saudi Arabia, US

S&P Global Platts
News editors

Commodity Tracker: 5 charts to watch this week

March 23, 2020 09:55 UTC

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US oil exports are under pressure as WTI’s differential to Middle Eastern offers narrows, reducing its appeal in Asia. Meanwhile, the gut-punch to global demand from the coronavirus pandemic is playing out across markets, putting EU carbon prices high on traders’ watchlist after last week’s nosedive.

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autos, carbon, coronavirus, dubai, energy, LNG, oil, palm oil, steel, WTI

Kira Savcenko
Market reporter, gas and power pricing

Italian power, gas demand slump illustrates how coronavirus has crippled industry

March 20, 2020 11:48 UTC

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The fast spread of coronavirus in Italy, along with measures to restrict individual movement – the harshest since World War II – has dragged down power and gas demand in the country and caused prices to collapse.

With government-imposed lockdowns coming into force across Europe since, the impact on the region’s energy markets is far from over.

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autos, coronavirus, electric power, Europe, gas, hydro, Italy, renewables, steel

Tom Schumacher
Senior specialist, power pricing

Power to the people? UK electricity suppliers disrupt retail market

March 18, 2020 16:22 UTC

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UK consumers have access to a competitive energy retail market and are able to switch between suppliers with little more than a few clicks online.

But electricity bills can still feel divorced from actual energy costs, with households often failing to feel the benefit when newspaper headlines shout about negative electricity prices.

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energy retail, energy transition, power, power grid, renewables, UK, UK Big Six, wind

J Robinson
Senior Writer

After Petrobras, part II: LNG takes up the mantle in Brazil

March 18, 2020 11:30 UTC

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In the second of a series, S&P Global Platts editors weigh in on Brazil’s liberalizing gas industry, with a look at the current and future role of LNG in bringing competition to the country’s burgeoning market.

Brazil’s natural gas market opening marked a major milestone in February as private LNG developers imported the country’s first-ever competitively sourced supply and announced plans to significantly expand their distribution of the fuel.

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Brazil, gas, liberalization, LNG, Petrobras

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Platts Insight: the essential perspective on global commodities

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