

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 22, 2017 • 6min
Palm oil biodiesel volumes surge as Europe's blenders soak up product
Volumes of palm oil methyl ester from Southeast Asia is heading towards the European biofuels complex, as Europe's blending and production hubs of Spain and Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp soak up imports to fire FAME 0 production. S&P Global Platts editors Tim Worledge and George Griffiths...

May 11, 2017 • 11min
Interview: IEA sees oil prices firming if OPEC cuts rollover
Neil Atkinson, Head of the IEA Oil Industry & Markets Division, talks to S&P Global Platts senior oil news editor, Robert Perkins, on the outlook for global oil market balances, the recent oil price slip, the implications of potential rollover of output cuts by OPEC and other key oil...

May 10, 2017 • 4min
Newly optimistic US coal industry focuses on flexibility, federal regulations
The Eastern Fuel Buyers Conference draws coal players from all basins and different market segments, and the mood had lifted this year as the industry welcomes an uptick in demand and new administration in the White House. Coal Trader editors Jeff McDonald and Jim Levesque both attended the...

May 5, 2017 • 6min
Could China tax on mixed aromatics imports alter EU gasoline blending economics?
Expectations are rife of an introduction of consumption taxes on mixed aromatics into China. But will this change the face of the European blending components market? Yuriko Kato, petrochemicals EMEA editor, explores this subject with the aromatics senior specialist, Sam Hashmi, and the gasoline...

Apr 28, 2017 • 8min
Met coal market volatility, Q2 benchmark delay in focus among coal, coke traders
Extremely volatile metallurgical coal and coke prices, and delays in industry reference pricing is pushing uncertainty into the market. There is speculation around the rate of return for shipments from Queensland, and how much further restocking is expected.At the recent Eurocoke conference in...

Apr 18, 2017 • 12min
Petrochemical M&A strategies in a world of political unknowns
Paul Harnick, head of chemicals and the global chemicals chief operating officer at KPMG, joins Yuriko Kato, reporter in the European petrochemicals team, to discuss the latest trends in M&As in the petrochemicals industry.Despite significant political unknowns, from Brexit negotiations to the...

Apr 18, 2017 • 6min
Shipping industry faces seismic shift in 2020 as sulfur cap looms
In 2020 the shipping industry is facing its biggest change since the shift away from burning coal a century ago as the IMO is set to impose a new 0.5% sulfur cap on marine fuel emissions. S&P Global Platts associate director Paul Hickin and editorial lead for bunker news Jack Jordan assess the...

Apr 12, 2017 • 11min
Turkish grains imports paradigm shift
Turkey stopped Russian grain imports following a government decision in mid-March. What impact did the lack of Russian grains imported into Turkey have on the milling and processing industry, how is the decision likely to affect the trading landscape, and will Turkish consumers continue buying...

Apr 11, 2017 • 6min
Ethanol tariff sought by Unica may not slow Brazil's imports: market
Unica, Brazil's sugar industry group, is seeking the reinstatement of an ethanol import tariff, citing greenhouse gas emissions from other producers and surging ethanol imports — especially from the US. Biofuels analyst Beatriz Pupo talks to US ethanol editor Josh Pedrick about how Brazil's...

Mar 31, 2017 • 8min
Commodities pricing now mostly on path to recovery, execs say
S&P Global Platts content director for EMEA metals Christopher Davis, and senior writer Robert Perkins -– just back to London from the shores of Lake Geneva -- discuss the outlook from the recent FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland. From oil to metals and mining to...


