Commodities Focus

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 crudes competing for business in the US Gulf Coast not only have been favored with increasing demand in that region, but also in Asia. Francisco Monaldi, fellow in Latin American energy policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, and Maria Eugenia Garcia, Latin American crude senior editor with S&P Global Platts Platts, discuss the impact of the sanctions on the international crude market.

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 ethanol editor Huw Shortland, while gasoline editor Solomon Lanitis highlights the impact of ethanol use on the much larger gasoline market.

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 LNG remain. Weak Asian LNG prices have added a new wrinkle to commercial talks for American developers.

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.

An initial trade agreement between the US and China signed by officials from both countries January 15 could change the landscape for commodities markets that have been roiled by punishing tit-for-tat tariffs over the last 18 months.

Caustic soda is considered a major economic indicator for manufacturing, which is why its weaker pricing was among many indicators of economic slowdowns in China and Europe last year. Current market prices remain under pressure in all regions, amid global oversupply and lack of demand growth. Global Market Lead for polymers and editor Kristen Hays tells Ora Lazic about the events that led to this situation, as well as expectations and trends for 2020.

With details still scarce on the US-China trade deal, markets' initial reaction was underwhelming. This indicates that the highly anticipated deal did not deliver on market expectations. Ivy Li, Gustavo Bonato, Pete Meyer, and Andrei Agapi, S&P Global Platts specialists from China, Brazil, the US, and Singapore, examine the impact of the deal on soybean exports from US and Brazil, and the demand in China in light of the African swine fever.

Pressure on plummeting coal prices could cascade throughout 2020 as unprecedented events within the wider energy markets have helped the energy mix to connect like never before. Platts reporters Antoine Simon, Joseph Clarke and Amanda Flint discuss with Sarah Matthews where this year could lead in both the worlds of coal and gas and whether coal-to-gas switching levels can really go any higher.

The consortium of ExxonMobil, Hess and China's CNOOC recently announced that first oil was being produced from Guyana's offshore. Starr Spencer, S&P Global Platts senior editor for oil news, talks with Laura Huchzermeyer, Platts managing editor of Americas crude markets, about the news from Guyana and the potential impacts on the market.