Commodities Focus

Tim Worledge and Claudiu Covrig look at the intricate interplay between supply and demand in the global sugar markets, and mull the impact of recovering sugar production in India and Thailand, the return of the EU to the international markets and the effect of prolonged poor monsoons in India which...

Mike Boswell, chair of the Brexit Committee at the British Plastic Federation assesses the challenges for an import dependent UK plastics industry post Brexit. UK converters face legislation changes, currency volatility and uncertainty in demand as the UK moves towards leaving the European Union.We...

After years of steady price declines, European power markets are dancing to a lively tune of nuclear outages, low wind and spiky Winter demand. Will prices rebalance once the current capacity squeeze is over? S&P Global Platts power reporters Henry Edwardes-Evans and Andreas Franke compare...

Can the abandoned smaller TEU vessels become the workhorse for the customer focused container market? S&P Global Platts senior editor Andrew Scorer explores some potential options for these vessels to become a key player and provide a competitive advantage.RELATED CONTENTBlog post -- Container...

Wholesale electric power prices in the US are starting 2017 by ticking upward, lifted by firmer natural gas prices, which overall has caused coal generation to take some of gas generation's share in the overall fuel mix. Kassia Micek and Eric Wieser of the North American power pricing team...

It's been tough going for the secondary aluminum market over the last few months, and an ample alloy supply is weighing on the US market as the year ends. Sarah Baltic Hilliard, metals market editor in Pittsburgh, assesses the current market level for the A380 aluminum benchmark and what is...

S&P Global Platts editors Jacqueline Holman and Cameron Carswell discuss recent moves in European and Asian thermal coal markets, from the rapid increase in prices which saw the Australian market hit $115.50/mt FOB for 6,000 NAR kcal/kg cargoes, to the more recent price retreat and where the...

In October 2016, new gas balancing schemes were rolled out in Italy and Spain to align the two countries gas hubs with European standards.Market reporters Dalila Ouerghi and Mario Perez discuss the implementation of these new gas balancing regimes, their effect on liquidity and the feedback from...

It's a much different picture for American natural gas, coal and power than just a few days ago as the US energy industry eyes a future under President-elect Donald Trump. Not only will key Washington appointees shift the tone of agencies like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the...

S&P Global Platts editors Jacqueline Holman and Cameron Carswell discuss the surprise announcement from the Turkish government to levy a $15/mt tax on imported thermal coal for power generation, the short term impact of the tax, the potential beneficiaries and the ways in which market players...