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Commodities Focus

S&P Global Commodity Insightswww.spglobal.com
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.
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Episodes

Market shrugs as natural gas storage lags in US Midwest

S&P Global Platts senior pricing specialists John DeLapp and Veda Chowdhury discuss the changing natural gas storage picture in the Midwest. Although stocks are running well behind the five-year average build, market participants do not seem to be concerned. John and Veda explain why. Related...

Sep 21, 20185 min

US-China tariffs: Uncertainty and chaos in petrochemicals

Join us for a discussion of how US-China trade tensions and tariffs are rocking the US petrochemical industry and markets for chemicals and plastics. Participating are Kristen Hays, senior petrochemicals editor; Chris Ferrell, managing editor of olefins and polymers; and Phillipe Craig, associate...

Sep 19, 201818 min

Hurricane Florence and the hidden hand in gasoline pump pricing

Up in the summer, down in the winter. What is going on with your gasoline? Jeff Bair and Seth Clare of Platts' light ends team discuss the influence of RVP on US gasoline assessments and how they provide a wrinkle into how fuel was priced during Hurricane Florence. Download: S&P Global Platts...

Sep 18, 201811 min

Global LNG market in focus as annual Gastech conference nears

S&P Global Platts senior natural gas writer Harry Weber, LNG Editorial Lead for Asia Pacific and the Middle East Abache Abreu and Managing Editor Gas & Power Joe Fisher preview next week's Gastech conference in Barcelona. They analyze the key themes and what the global gas and LNG...

Sep 13, 20189 min

US power sector coal, gas storage down but prices unmoved

Coal stockpiles at US utilities and natural gas storage are both down this year rather significantly, but prices have yet to react. Andrew Moore, managing editor of Platts Coal Trader, says increasing gas production is one reason prices have stayed low, which is also limiting coal demand. But with...

Aug 29, 20186 min

Brazilian soybean port premiums jump as US and China engage in trade war

Brazil, the world's largest soybean exporter, is bound to be nearly alone in providing the oilseed to China with competitive prices, after the Asian country imposed a 25% tariff on US exports. However, uncertainties around Brazilian domestic freight costs make the scenario for the South...

Aug 23, 20187 min

How a 'perfect storm' pushed Southern California natural gas to a record high

Senior Pricing Specialists Samer Mosis, Arsalan Syed and John DeLapp of the S&P Global Platts North American Natural Gas team discuss the behavior of the often-volatile Southern California gas market this summer. They dissect and analyze the market fundamentals behind a recent price surge and...

Aug 22, 201810 min

How the US-China trade war could reshape the LNG market

S&P Global Platts reporter Harry Weber and Senior Managing Editor Matt Eversman discuss the outlook for further US LNG export growth amid the escalation of international trade disputes. They analyze the impact on projects currently being developed on the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts and...

Aug 17, 201810 min

Ocean arbs expand for gasoline on the high seas

S&P Global Platts editors Seth Clare and Jeffrey Bair talk about gasoline trade flow from the US to Australia and China to Mexico and the short-term supply situations that are driving markets on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Also, there's a review of some of the bullish indications for US...

Aug 15, 20189 min

Corpus Christi positioning itself to be prime port for US energy exports

The Texas Port of Corpus Christi is positioning itself to be the prime energy export port in the US, despite trade wars and sanctions. In a conversation with S&P Global Platts senior editor Ashok Dutta and managing editor Gary Gentile, the port's CEO Sean Strawbridge outlines his plans to...

Jul 24, 201823 min

Containers: Headwinds in the liner market

The liner carriers, which haul all consumer goods and many bulk commodities around the world, have faced serious challenges over the past few years. Jason Silber of S&P Global Platts Ocean Intelligence talks with Andrew Scorer, Platts senior editor for containers about the headwinds in the...

Jun 19, 20186 min

Severe PET supply constraints cast cloud over nearing peak summer demand

The European polyethylene terephthalate market is set to face a supply drought in the foreseeable future amid lingering scarcity of feedstock purified terephthalic acid in the region. With the peak summer demand season nearing, S&P Global Platts managing editor for EMEA petrochemicals, Ng...

May 30, 20188 min

Wholesale power markets prep for summer heat, demand and possible emergencies

The North American power pricing team takes a coast-to-coast look at summer power prices, as well as forecast demand and generating capacity for ERCOT, Cal-ISO and the PJM Interconnection.Kassia Micek, Jeff Zhou and Meaghan Coleman evaluate how the power markets are shaping up as hot weather and...

May 23, 20187 min

St. Petersburg to host OPEC+ deal, sanctions discussions in late May

Key oil players will gather in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on May 24-26 to discuss key issues including the fate of the OPEC+ crude production cut deal and the impact of US sanctions on international energy markets. High-profile political guests including French President Emmanuel Macron and...

May 18, 20186 min

Interview: Abdulrahman S. Al-Fageeh, SABIC

Abdulrahman S. Al-Fageeh, SABIC Executive Vice President - Petrochemicals, joins S&P Global Platts Editor Frank Zeng in this episode of the Platts Commodities Spotlight podcast, recorded at the ChinaPlas Conference 2018, to talk about company updates, the implications of the trade tension between...

May 04, 20189 min

2020: The outlook on LNG Bunkering

The International Maritime Organization has reduced the maximum amount of sulfur in bunker fuels from 3.5% to 0.5%, effective in 2020. Shipping companies will be paying more for fuel as they switch from high sulfur fuels to blends and distillates, but LNG is also emerging as an option.Jason Silber...

May 04, 201813 min

Advanced technology, robotics vital to recovering offshore production

The recent industry downturn was painful for the oil patch, and especially subdued global offshore exploration. But the sector is emerging more efficient and with sophisticated technologies that will prepare it for the next few decades where more automation, more predictive analysis and more...

May 03, 20188 min

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...

May 01, 201810 min

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 27, 20186 min

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, 201811 min

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 25, 20185 min

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 19, 20187 min

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 13, 20186 min

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 12, 20189 min

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...

Apr 10, 20185 min
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