Commodities Focus

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 concerns.

In this podcast, S&P Global Commodity Insights' Rajesh Nair, Atsuko Kawasaki and Zhuwei Wang talk about the outlook for the Asian fuel oil market.

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 specialist for agriculture, and Luciana Torrezan Soncin, global manager of sugar analytics, discuss the key variables impacting the 2022-23 Center-South Brazil sugarcane crop, and how the local and global geopolitical factors can potentially impact the ultimate sugar and ethanol production figures.

This Commodities Focus podcast was produced by Jennifer Pedrick in Houston.

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 role in the global LNG markets, emerging regasification capacity constraints on the continent, as well as the challenges of relying on LNG to diversify away from Russian pipeline gas in the years ahead.

Tell us more about your podcast preferences so we can keep improving our shows. Take our two-minute survey here: https://bit.ly/plattspod22

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 Jesline Tang discuss what the nickel price volatility could mean for battery chemistries and pricing moving forward.

Tell us more about your podcast preferences so we can keep improving our shows. Take our two-minute survey here: https://bit.ly/plattspod22

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 whys and wherefores of these logjams, and what shipping and resin markets can expect going forward into the year.

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 Giuliano Bordignon discuss these trends in North America for historical capture price indexes, outlook on risks, and other expected technology drivers.

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 shipments and prices of key commodities including crude, refined oil products, grains and coal.

Tell us more about your podcast preferences so we can keep improving our shows. Take our two-minute survey here: https://bit.ly/plattspod22

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 analysts Richard Frey and Eric Brooks to discuss the state of gas storage and exports in Canada and the Lower 48, as well as the outlook for the rest of heating season.

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 2022. S&P Global Platts Wendy Wells, Ramthan Hussain and Joshua Ong discuss what lies ahead for the LPG markets in 2022.

Tell us more about your podcast preferences so we can keep improving our shows. Take our two-minute survey here: https://bit.ly/plattspod22

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 in 2022.