A unique season for the 2018-19 sugarcane crop in North-Northeast Brazil is starting to shape up, with producers expected to maximize ethanol production. And for the first time since 2010-11 producers are expected to focus on hydrous production, which is already is triggering higher anhydrous...
Sep 25, 2018•12 min
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, 2018•5 min
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, 2018•18 min
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, 2018•11 min
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, 2018•9 min
A unique season for the 2018-19 sugarcane crop in Center-South Brazil is resulting in the highest ethanol mix in 10 years. What have been the impacts in the supply-and-demand dynamics in the world's largest sugarcane producer and second-biggest ethanol market? Can demand catch up with the...
Sep 07, 2018•11 min
Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Asian leaders at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, September 11-13, 2018, where discussions are likely to be dominated by trade tensions and North Korea peace talks, as well as the most promising areas for future cooperation. S&P Global Platts...
Sep 07, 2018•5 min
S&P Global Platts Editor Kate Winston and Senior Manager Matthew Eversman discuss the Affordable Clean Energy rule and whether this new legislation will have an impact on the US generation mix.
Aug 31, 2018•12 min
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, 2018•6 min
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, 2018•7 min
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, 2018•10 min
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, 2018•10 min
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, 2018•9 min
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, 2018•23 min
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, 2018•6 min
S&P Global Platts reporter Harry Weber, Managing Editor Scott Ickes and independent LNG analyst Ted Michael discuss the outlook for further LNG export growth from the US and Canada, which country will launch the second wave of liquefaction terminals with a positive final investment decision, what...
May 31, 2018•13 min
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, 2018•8 min
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, 2018•7 min
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, 2018•6 min
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, 2018•9 min
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, 2018•13 min
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, 2018•8 min
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, 2018•10 min
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, 2018•6 min
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•11 min
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, 2018•5 min
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, 2018•7 min
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, 2018•6 min
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, 2018•9 min
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, 2018•5 min