With 2022's volatile gas prices causing uncertainty across the energy markets, the case for LNG as a marine fuel has been shaken. LNG has previously been called the frontrunner in the race for alternative marine fuels – is that still the case? Editors Sam Eckett and Piers de Wilde are joined by analyst Anastasia Zania to look at the current state of the market, and the future outlook for LNG bunkers. Tell us more about your podcast preferences so we can keep improving our shows. Take our two-min...
Apr 26, 2022•11 min
US states are ramping up their decarbonization goals in legislation, and corporations are committing to powering their operations with renewables. Enter Renewable Energy Certificates. What role do RECs play in the energy transition, and do they bring more clarity or challenges to the race to decarbonize? Global power manager Amy Gasca leads the discussion with power pricing analyst Nicole Baquerizo and senior manager of North American power analytics Morris Greenberg. This Commodities Focus podc...
Apr 20, 2022•10 min
Asia's LNG market has been disrupted by the war in Ukraine at a time when supply was already tight because of outages, low inventories and a rebound in economic activity. Global gas prices continue to flirt with record high levels with every escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The unwinding from Russian gas supply threatens to further disrupt spot trade and long-term gas dependence for Asian gas importers in 2022. In this podcast, S&P Global Commodity Insights' Eric Yep, Kenneth Foo a...
Apr 19, 2022•20 min
The global fuel oil market is currently going through a turmoil on account of the lower Russian oil flowing into the marine fuel oil pool and a fair share of blending components being used to produce higher margin transportation fuels. Tightening sanctions on Russian oil has seen newer trade flows emerge. As Asian markets gear up for peak summer demand, trade flows are poised to undergo further changes. The recent fuel contamination issue at Singapore has further exacerbated product availability...
Apr 14, 2022•23 min
Center-South Brazil's crop officially started on April 1, and although more than 70% of the expected sugar exports are already hedged, there is still flexibility for the allocation of the sugarcane mix to switch between sugar and ethanol. The final mix will largely depend on the relative prices of sugar and ethanol, which are exposed to several factors such as international oil prices, the Brazilian real, weather, fuel demand, and fuel pricing policy. Nicolle Monteiro de Castro, senior price spe...
Apr 13, 2022•14 min
The global natural gas market is exhibiting record volatility, with prices at unprecedented levels as Russia's invasion of Ukraine casts a cloud of uncertainty over the future of Europe's supply mix. LNG has however emerged as a key source of flexibility for the European market, with active competition with Asia for volumes leading to record deliveries in the first quarter of 2022. In the latest Commodities Focus podcast, pricing manager Allen Reed and analyst Luke Cottell discuss Europe's new r...
Apr 05, 2022•21 min
Nickel prices hit an unprecedented $101,365/mt in early trading on March 8 following a historic short squeeze on pure nickel and have been volatile ever since. China, the world's largest consumer of nickel, has seen trading activity for nickel sulfate, an important component of nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) batteries, fall to an all-time low. This comes at a time the China is witnessing booming domestic demand for electric vehicles . S&P Global Commodity Insights' Clement Choo, Lucy Tang and...
Mar 25, 2022•13 min
A constant rush of imports has commanded short supply of equipment needed to move out exports of resins used to make everything from grocery bags and shampoo bottles to vinyl siding and vehicle dashboards. After US resin producers struggled through a year of severe weather that squeezed supply, they entered 2022 with multiple hurdles to restoring those outflows just when more supply is ready to ship out. Global polymer lead Kristen Hays and US container freight editor David Lademan discuss the w...
Mar 23, 2022•9 min
As more renewable energy enters the grid, wind and solar generators increasingly compete for the same revenue streams. This results in a price cannibalization risk, in which renewables erode their own value over time. Recent renewable penetration trends in North America with wind and solar capacity additions are already showing signs of eroding prices in regions such as ERCOT and SPP. Managing editor global power pricing Amy Gasca, power pricing analyst Daryna Kotenko, and senior power analyst G...
Mar 16, 2022•13 min
The commercial and financial ramifications of the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be felt for a long time. As the conflict escalates, sanctions have been imposed on Russian banks and shipping companies. This has meant that many companies are reluctant or unable to trade with Russia. In this podcast, S&P Global Commodity Insights' Pradeep Rajan, Sameer C. Mohindru, Zhuwei Wang and Shriram Sivaramakrishnan explain what the latest developments mean for the maritime sector, global trade and shipmen...
Mar 04, 2022•16 min
The natural gas storage situation in North America has fluctuated wildly this winter, quickly moving from a surplus to a growing deficit in the US. Meanwhile, Canada's inventories have teetered near historical lows all winter. In response, key hubs throughout the US and Canada are maintaining prices not seen since 2008, the early days of the US shale boom, as Henry Hub forwards recently posted record-high daily gains. US natural gas writer Brandon Evans sits down with Platts Analytics' energy an...
Feb 15, 2022•17 min
Asia's LPG demand has been growing over the last decade, led by China's mushrooming petrochemical sector. India's LPG demand has also grown due to large subsidy-driven household consumption. But major Middle Eastern exporters have to grapple with growing competition from other producers, led by the shale-driven US natural gas liquids sector. In a move to win back traditional buyers and entrench themselves in a bullish LPG market, Middle Eastern producers are projected to boost export volumes in ...
Feb 11, 2022•9 min
Copper prices were on a roller-coaster ride in 2021 with demand recovery in US and Europe, logistics issues, COVID-19 disruptions and power cuts in China all contributing to the price fluctuations. Futures backwardation also hit a historical high in 2021. In 2022, increasing supply from new and existing mines is likely to be one of the key factors to watch out for. On this week's Commodities Focus podcast, S&P Global Platts Yuen Cheng Mok and Han Lu discuss what's in store for copper markets...
Jan 19, 2022•13 min
Enterprise Products Partners co-CEO Jim Teague and Chris D'Anna, senior vice president of petrochemicals, discuss the energy storage and transportation titan's push into upstream petrochemicals that will feed growing plastics demand over the next decade. The company is a key delivery point for physically settled futures markets, with global hydrocarbon risk management from the wellhead to waterborne markets. Enterprise's reach includes 50,000 miles of natural gas liquids, crude oil, natural gas ...
Jan 04, 2022•21 min
The World Petroleum Congress in Houston brought back a sense of normalcy to the energy sector as both the industry and the world continue to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. But the other existential threat for fossil fuels is the burgeoning energy transition and switch to cleaner sources of power and fuels. At the conference, many oil and gas executives pushed back at the notion of a seamless transition, arguing that fossil fuels will be needed for many decades to come, and warning of pri...
Dec 14, 2021•13 min
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany is one of the most controversial energy infrastructure projects in history. Now complete, there remains uncertainty over when the 55 Bcm/year project will begin commercial flows. On this week's Commodities Focus podcast, S&P Global Platts Henry Edwardes-Evans, Stuart Elliott, Gary Hornby and James Huckstepp discuss the project's history, the many obstacles it has faced, its impact on European gas prices and what to expect next....
Dec 08, 2021•19 min
US natural gas and power markets are strengthening as the heart of winter heating season nears. In this podcast, editors from S&P Global Platts power and natural gas teams discuss spot and forward pricing, weather outlooks, major trends, and market fundamentals impacting the winter outlook. With power and gas prices rising across the board, we investigate how these markets have evolved from the previous year, what infrastructure has been added, and what to expect as winter forges ahead....
Nov 30, 2021•12 min
The price of the global Japonica market's benchmark, US #1, 4% broken white rice, is reaching highs not seen in ten years at quite an unfortunate time. Freight from California remains incredibly difficult to source, especially at an affordable rate for buyers. Meanwhile, other Japonica origins, such as Australia and China continue to steadily chip away at market share amid pressure to export their increasingly robust stockpiles. In this Commodities Focus podcast, S&P Global Platts agricultur...
Nov 24, 2021•15 min
Ciaran Roe and Ira Joseph break down the unprecedented price movements in recent LNG and gas markets. The discussion focuses on how we arrived at this point of unusual tightness and whether the conditions that brought us here will persist. Then the discussion turns to the evolving pricing relationship between JKM and TTF, how LNG imports have been trading above Europe's main gas hub for months, and how the US Henry Hub fits into the mix. The final segment looks ahead to how short-term price vola...
Nov 10, 2021•18 min
While energy prices are moving higher and higher, there's a clear laggard in the commodities space: the tanker freight market. Why are clean and dirty tankers not keeping pace? S&P Global Platts shipping market experts Pradeep Rajan, Vickey Du and Sameer C. Mohindru examine the factors shaping the clean and dirty tanker markets, and their path to recovery.
Nov 05, 2021•11 min
S&P Global Platts crude editors Maria Eugenia Garcia and Fred Wang discuss with Senior analyst Richard Capuchino, Jr. the latest developments in light, sweet crude production in the Atlantic Coast of South America. These new grades are receiving strong interest globally, but particularly from Asia, as refiners seek to reduce sulfur content in refined products.
Nov 04, 2021•13 min
Natural gas storage inventories in the US have crept within 5% of the five-year average and Canada is pushing even higher as the injection season winds down. However, key hubs throughout the US and Canada are reporting prices not maintained since the dawn of the shale revolution due to North America's newfound exposure to global gas market forces. If the US and Canada experience a colder-than-normal winter, and drops inventories below 1 Tcf, pricing analysts expect the benchmark Henry Hub to cra...
Oct 28, 2021•22 min
In the latest installment of the S&P Global Platts Commodities Focus podcast, Harry Weber, a Platts senior natural gas writer in Houston, is joined by Dania El Saadi and Claudia Carpenter in Dubai. Dania is a Platts senior editor, Middle East news, and Claudia is Platts editorial lead, Middle East crude. They discuss the recently completed Gastech, the biggest in-person gathering of gas market participants since the coronavirus pandemic erupted almost two years ago. While there were nibbles ...
Oct 05, 2021•13 min
As Europe struggles to replenish natural gas inventories, prices reach all-time highs, with Platts Analytics forecasting even more gas-to-oil switching throughout the coming winter. While European gas and power supply and demand hangs in balance, market participants look to controversial Nord Stream 2 for a sign of hope, as the project enters certification proceedings. S&P Global Platts Managing Editor of European Gas Gary Hornby, Platts Analytics Senior Gas Analysts Valentina Bonetti, and U...
Sep 30, 2021•17 min
Global polyethylene prices and trade flows have been hit by challenge after challenge, from the coronavirus pandemic since early 2020, the deep freeze in the US in February, to the recent container shortage that has driven freight rates to record highs. With the hurricane season still on in the US, new quality standards expected to be implemented in India, logistical issues in Europe, and polyethylene plant startups in the coming months, the question on when prices and trade flows will normalize...
Sep 29, 2021•14 min
A lack of vessel space, high freight costs, port backlogs and a shortage of truck drivers, the logistical challenges facing the plastics industry have multiplied across 2021. Join Platts petrochemical editors Aziz Ehtaiba, Sarah Trinder and Callum Colford as they discuss what this has meant for polymers and ask Platts Analytics Yi-Jeng Huang what's next for the markets.
Sep 27, 2021•15 min
Emerging economies and their successful vaccine rollouts will be key to the short-term recovery of the oil tanker market, after the highs of 2020, as it works through a period of low freight rates. International Seaways CEO Lois Zabrocky and Platts EMEA senior writer for transport fuels Tom Washington discuss the state of the market and where it is pointing.
Sep 23, 2021•16 min
California has one of the most aggressive clean energy goals in the US and the state leads the US in utility-scale solar capacity and battery storage capacity. More recently, discussions have picked up regarding offshore wind in the West. Platts power news editor Kassia Micek discussed with Commissioner Karen Douglas the work the California Energy Commission is doing to develop offshore wind along the West Coast.
Sep 22, 2021•21 min
Germany goes to the polls on September 26 in the most open contest for years. As Chancellor Angela Merkel prepares to step down, S&P Global Platts' news and analytics experts discuss the daunting energy challenges facing her successor. The rally in natural gas prices adds uncertainty and may overshadow coalition talks that will set the framework for the coming four years as the new government has to put Europe's biggest economy on track for the new 2045 net zero target.
Sep 17, 2021•25 min
Leaders in the public and private sector are faced with the possibility of more frequent and intense weather events -- winter storms, heat waves, cyclones, wildfires -- as anthropogenic climate change continues, and must decide whether they should "price in" the risk of such events in building more robust and sustainable energy infrastructure. Michael Webber, chief technology officer at Energy Impact Partners, discusses the opportunities and challenges to that approach with Mark Watson, S&P ...
Sep 15, 2021•20 min
