A new decade is bringing new challenges for US power markets. The renewables buildout continues to disrupt the market in ways never seen before, mild winter weather and very weak natural gas prices have depressed power prices, and the PG&E situation is ever evolving. Kassia Micek, Mark Watson and Jeff Ryser of the Platts Americas Power Team look at the biggest stories across the US power market and what it all means for the coming months and years.
Feb 04, 2020•15 min
In light of the proposed Green Deal to make Europe carbon neutral by 2050, it is clear that the energy transition is on the forefront of policymakers' minds. Roman Kramarchuk and Dan Klein of S&P Global Platts Analytics put the European energy transition into a global context, and the likelihood of meeting 2-degree warming targets.
Jan 31, 2020•10 min
We're one month into the new IMO 2020 sulphur cap and Container Editor George Griffiths and Dry Bulk Editor Sam Eckett look at how the container and dry bulk freight markets are reacting at this time, whilst keeping a fairweather eye on Lunar New Year and the rapid spread of coronavirus which is eating into customer confidence in the freight world.
Jan 30, 2020•10 min
January 28 marks the one-year anniversary of sanctions imposed by the US Department of Treasury on Venezuela's state-run oil producer, PDVSA, which has been translated as a de facto ban on Venezuelan crude exports to the US market. Since then, PDVSA has seen a deterioration of its oil industry and has struggled to sell its crude barrels in international markets. In contrast, other Latin American crudes competing for business in the US Gulf Coast not only have been favored with increasing demand ...
Jan 28, 2020•16 min
With 2020 bringing increased blending and greenhouse gas saving mandates to the EU biofuels market, the latest S&P Global Platts Commodities Focus podcast looks at why the ethanol market exists and how EU ethanol mandates filter through to the daily experience of road users. EMEA agriculture pricing lead Robert Beaman discusses current market trends with biofuels managing editor Chrysa Glystra and ethanol editor Huw Shortland, while gasoline editor Solomon Lanitis highlights the impact of et...
Jan 28, 2020•14 min
S&P Global Platts senior natural gas writer Harry Weber and S&P Global Market Intelligence natural gas reporter Corey Paul discuss with Platts head of Americas gas news Joe Fisher the outlook for US LNG export projects following the initial trade agreement that the US and China signed January 15. The agreement keeps tit-for-tat tariffs from escalating, but existing Chinese duties on imports of US LNG remain. Weak Asian LNG prices have added a new wrinkle to commercial talks for American ...
Jan 24, 2020•21 min
Chinese crude steel production had a bumper year in 2019, rising 8.3% to just short of 1 billion mt, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. S&P Global Platts steel specialists Paul Bartholomew and Jing Zhang revisit the factors that underpinned the growth in China's steel output last year, and examine the drivers that could support and impact the country's steel production in 2020.
Jan 24, 2020•8 min
An initial trade agreement between the US and China signed by officials from both countries January 15 could change the landscape for commodities markets that have been roiled by punishing tit-for-tat tariffs over the last 18 months.
Jan 22, 2020•29 min
Caustic soda is considered a major economic indicator for manufacturing, which is why its weaker pricing was among many indicators of economic slowdowns in China and Europe last year. Current market prices remain under pressure in all regions, amid global oversupply and lack of demand growth. Global Market Lead for polymers and editor Kristen Hays tells Ora Lazic about the events that led to this situation, as well as expectations and trends for 2020.
Jan 21, 2020•14 min
With details still scarce on the US-China trade deal, markets' initial reaction was underwhelming. This indicates that the highly anticipated deal did not deliver on market expectations. Ivy Li, Gustavo Bonato, Pete Meyer, and Andrei Agapi, S&P Global Platts specialists from China, Brazil, the US, and Singapore, examine the impact of the deal on soybean exports from US and Brazil, and the demand in China in light of the African swine fever.
Jan 17, 2020•17 min
Pressure on plummeting coal prices could cascade throughout 2020 as unprecedented events within the wider energy markets have helped the energy mix to connect like never before. Platts reporters Antoine Simon, Joseph Clarke and Amanda Flint discuss with Sarah Matthews where this year could lead in both the worlds of coal and gas and whether coal-to-gas switching levels can really go any higher.
Jan 14, 2020•5 min
The consortium of ExxonMobil, Hess and China's CNOOC recently announced that first oil was being produced from Guyana's offshore. Starr Spencer, S&P Global Platts senior editor for oil news, talks with Laura Huchzermeyer, Platts managing editor of Americas crude markets, about the news from Guyana and the potential impacts on the market.
Dec 24, 2019•7 min
As more US municipalities set ambitious goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power generation, transportation and other sectors, use cases for hydrogen are emerging that include fuel cells, direct burning in gas-fired turbines and energy storage applications. With these trends in mind, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems is launching the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project in central Utah that seeks to develop 1,000 MW of clean energy storage using hydrogen stored in underground salt cavern...
Dec 18, 2019•17 min
In the final Shipping Commodities Focus podcast of 2019, S&P Global Platts editors George Griffiths and Sam Eckett discuss the state of the markets ahead of IMO 2020's January 1 deadline. They review the inaugural Platts European Shipping Seminar in Athens; how the Kübler-Ross model of grief (the five stages) applies to global shipping; and investigate why public and private companies are approaching the sulfur emissions cap regulations differently.
Dec 18, 2019•8 min
With record-high production and unprecedented exposure to global markets through exports, US natural gas markets are in many ways heading into uncharted territory this winter. S&P Global Platts Americas natural gas manager Ryan Ouwerkerk speaks with senior gas pricing specialists Veda Chowdhury and Kelsey Hallahan about what to expect this winter for US natural gas pricing. The discussion includes a dive into how new infrastructure, ranging from LNG export facilities to new pipelines, have p...
Dec 18, 2019•19 min
Two consecutive campaigns of lower sugar production and trade deficits are forecast in the European sugar market. EMEA agriculture pricing lead Robert Beaman, global market development manager Piero Carello and sugar editor Thomas Wigglesworth discuss, in the latest S&P Global Platts Commodities Focus podcast, the on-going sugar beet harvest, changing trade flow dynamics and the overall European market, against a backdrop of a global sugar market back in significant deficit for the first tim...
Dec 18, 2019•14 min
What's in store for 2020? As 2019's heavy turnaround season at all main European petrochemical cracker units came to an end, ethylene supplies returned to a progressively weakening derivatives market. Styrene monomer in particular has been significantly affected and set to remain bearish for the foreseeable future. On the opposite side, upstream naphtha has kept strong and has recently pushed European cracker margins to the floor. How did this situation develop and what is to expect in H1 2020? ...
Dec 03, 2019•12 min
In today's Commodities Focus podcast, join EMEA agriculture pricing lead Robert Beaman, oilseeds editor George Duke and global market development manager Piero Carello as they discuss how the global vegetable oil complex is pressuring sunflower oil prices upwards, despite the bumper sunflower harvests in the Black Sea region.
Nov 28, 2019•12 min
In today's Commodities Focus podcast, steel pricing analysts Viral Shah and Pascal Dick speak to Shan Islam, head of ferrous trading at Amalgamated Metals Trading (AMT) about the growing market interest in scrap and rebar futures contracts traded on the London Metal Exchange. The team discuss the various scenarios and questions that may arise when a market participant begins hedging, as well as the positive market reaction to the launch of the LME's hot-rolled coil steel futures in the US (Platt...
Nov 26, 2019•14 min
S&P Global Platts senior natural gas writer Harry Weber and S&P Global Market Intelligence natural gas reporter Corey Paul discuss with Platts head of Americas gas news Joe Fisher the outlook for US LNG export growth in 2020, which projects will advance, which ones remain on the bubble, and how the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China will impact the landscape.
Nov 21, 2019•19 min
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is holding its fifth heads-of-state summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, next week with gas heavyweights such as Russia, Iran and Qatar set to discuss the state of the global gas market. With gas prices still low across the world and an oversupplied LNG market adding to the bearish mood, GECF members will have much to discuss against the background of an increasing backlash against gas, especially in Europe. S&P Global Platts editors Henry Edwardes-Ev...
Nov 20, 2019•7 min
The International Energy Agency has released its latest annual long-term energy outlook in which US shale gets a major resource uplift, shifting the oil market dynamic over the coming decades. S&P Global Platts editor Nick Coleman and Market Intelligence editor Peter Marrin join Robert Perkins to discuss the implications of the IEA's latest forecasts, how producers are meeting the supply challenges and positioning for growth, based on their latest set of corporate results.
Nov 19, 2019•15 min
Platts Shipping editors Sam Eckett and George Griffiths interview Alexis Rodriguez on environmental initiatives by the Panama Canal ahead of IMO 2020. In a wide-ranging conversation, they discuss new rules prohibiting the use of marine distillate fuels in canal waters; traffic impacts of the US-China trade tensions; and answer the question: Is the Panama Canal turning into an ECA zone?
Nov 13, 2019•20 min
The energy transition has become an increasingly important driver of energy and commodity markets, as power generation undergoes a profound transformation across the globe. In this podcast, Bruno Brunetti, S&P Global Platts head of global power planning, analytics; and Morris Greenberg, senior manager, North American power, analytics; discuss with Amy Gasca, manager of power pricing, the global and US solar outlook, along with key drivers of solar PV capacity additions and the impact of sola...
Nov 12, 2019•10 min
London-based editors Jeffrey McDonald, Sarah Matthews and Joseph Clarke discuss the mood of key sectors within the Atlantic basin thermal coal markets amid cheap gas prices and tumbling demand from Europe and the Mediterranean. The mood is bearish, especially for US and Colombian producers. Russian...
Nov 05, 2019•7 min
Ethanol has been at the forefront of the discussions at Sugar Week in Sao Paulo. The ethanol story will most probably remain bullish, with the renewable fuel accounting for more than 45% of Brazil's total gasoline pool since 2018 and the launch of the RenovaBio program in 2020. The...
Nov 01, 2019•19 min
FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee launched the EnVision Forum in his home state of Kentucky on October 21. The daylong event drew a diverse crowd of power and natural gas stakeholders, including CEOs, utility regulators, consumer advocates and landowners, to discuss challenges posed by the changing...
Oct 24, 2019•16 min
The middle distillate complex in Asia is expected to maintain a firm footing in the fourth quarter amid looming supply concerns despite Saudi Arabia's full restoration on all of its crude oil production following the September 14 attacks. Industry sources in the bull camp also anticipate rising...
Oct 24, 2019•4 min
In today's Commodities Focus podcast, steel pricing analysts Len Griffin and Viral Shah speak to lead news editor Annalisa Villa about the European steel market after the World Steel Association released its outlook for 2019, which revises global steel growth significantly upwards, with...
Oct 22, 2019•8 min
The energy transition has become the key talking point among energy and commodity market participants, marking what seems to be the beginning of a paradigm shift in power generation. And who better than S&P Global Platts experts in Global Power to analyse key drivers such as policy, the...
Oct 18, 2019•9 min
