

Commodities Focus
S&P Global Commodity Insights
S&P Global Commodity Insights analysis of key news and pricing issues from across the global shipping, natural gas, power, petrochemicals, agriculture, and coal markets.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 1, 2018 • 10min
Canada's fight over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion
Getting new oil pipelines built in Canada has become a problem. Producers are keen on expanding their customer base outside the US, eyeing refiners in Asia and Europe. To reach those markets,producers need pipeline access from Alberta to coastal terminals, but they have faced a lot of pushback. Now...

Apr 27, 2018 • 6min
What trends will shape US gas prices this summer?
S&P Global Platts editors Seth Clare and Jeff Bair discuss summer gasoline trends: what's going on with Mexico-bound exports, what you might pay at the pump and the competition to get fuel up the pipeline to New York. The US government has revised its forecast for pump prices upward.We welcome...

Apr 25, 2018 • 11min
Chinese tariffs: What's it mean for the US biofuels and agriculture markets?
China's proposed 25% tariff on various US goods, including products such as soybeans and corn, and an additional 15% tariff on US ethanol, have left the agriculture and biofuels markets in a state of uncertainty. News of the tariffs has already begun to pressure prices and change trade flows...

Apr 25, 2018 • 5min
CIF Japan aluminum premium slips as US eases sanctions on Rusal
Spot aluminum premiums have slipped from last week's near three-year high of $180/mt-$195/mt CIF Japan, after the US eased sanctions against leading Russian producer Rusal.In this podcast, S&P Global Platts editors Mayumi Watanabe and YuenCheng Mok examine the market's reaction to the US...

Apr 19, 2018 • 7min
Australia alumina price hits all-time high as US sanctions, Brazil problems hit
S&P Global Platts alumina price assessment jumped $160/mt overnight to $710/mt FOB Australia on April 18. It also increased $235 in the last week, on supply worries.In this podcast, metals editors Joanna Lim and YuenCheng Mok examine what's driving alumina prices, and talk about market outlook...

Apr 13, 2018 • 6min
UK coal plant shut down could exacerbate power price spikes on tight supply
Coal is on its way out of the UK power generation mix, yet has remained as a fall-back option on days of peak demand such as when the National Grid warned of a natural gas deficit on March 1. Capacity market auctions are at a record low, which could speed up the closure of exiting UK coal plants...

Apr 12, 2018 • 9min
A new hope for an E15 waiver?
US President Donald Trump spoke in favor Thursday of an RVP waiver for E15, or gasoline blended with 15% ethanol. The implications and motivations for such a waiver are a hot topic right now as refiners fight mounting biofuels compliance costs.S&P Global Platts editors Josh Pedrick and Wes...

Apr 10, 2018 • 5min
Widening crude differentials and the Permian Basin
The Permian Basin has attracted more than its fair share of attention due to its high pace of growth even in a low oil price environment.But since late March differentials have widened between the two grades: WTI Midland and MEH. This is a clear sign that the 300,000 b/d cushionin takeaway capacity...

Mar 16, 2018 • 5min
European biodiesel: Is there space for imports from both Asia and South America?
European biodiesel trade flows have been rocked significantly by the latest policy changes, with uncertainty rife in the marketplace surrounding the future of antidumping duties. S&P Global Platts' George Griffiths, EMEA senior biofuels specialist, and Samar Niazi, APAC biodiesel editor take a...

Mar 14, 2018 • 7min
The PES-EPA proposal: What's it mean for US biofuels?
S&P Global Platts editors Sophie Byron and Wes Swift and Director of Global Biofuels Analysis Corey Lavinsky discuss the impact from the proposed settlement agreement between the US Environmental Protection Agency and Philadelphia Energy Solutions on the biofuels market.The trio review what...


