Asian economies are performing better than expected. In the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook Update, we upgraded our growth estimate for 2020 by 0.7 percentage point from our previous forecast in October, to a contraction of 1.5 percent—in regional terms, a better outcome than other parts of the world. This is largely driven by stronger-than-expected performance among […]
Asia produced 1,374.9 Mt of of crude steel in 2020, an increase of 1.5% compared to 2019, worldsteel said, adding that China’s crude steel production in 2020 reached 1,053.0 Mt, up by 5.2% on 2019. China’s share of global crude steel production increased from 53.3% in 2019 to 56.5% in 2020. India’s crude steel production […]
Bucking the global trend, China and Russia produced more steel in 2020 than in 2019. Among the top five nations, production declined in India, Japan and the United States by up to 17.2 per cent. Global crude steel production reached 1,864.0 million tonnes for the year 2020, down by 0.9 per cent compared to 2019. […]
Asian LNG (liquefied natural gas) prices have hit record highs due to supply glitches, transportation bottlenecks and soaring demand for heating due to a cold snap, according to S&P Global Platts data. Benchmark LNG prices, the S&P Global Platts JKM, was assessed at $32.494/MMBtu on Jan 12, which is the highest since it was launched […]
Saudi Arabia has announced reductions in crude oil volumes to be supplied to at least nine clients in Asia and Europe following its decision to add another 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to its OPEC+ production cut quota to prop up prices. Bloomberg reports that the Saudi Kingdom will slash supplies to some refiners by between […]
The World Steel Association (worldsteel) said global crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to it was 161.9 million tonnes (Mt) in October 2020, a 7.0% increase compared to October 2019. In Asia, China produced 92.2 Mt of crude steel in October 2020, an increase of 12.7% compared to the same month last year […]
Fitch Ratings expects Brent crude oil prices to be around $45/barrel next year which would support a modest improvement in the credit metrics of most Chinese and south-east Asian national oil companies. The benchmark oil price was recently hovering at $41/barrel, but has since then rebounded to close to $45/barrel amid hopes of higher demand because […]
Asia’s slowing energy demand growth will impact coal power producers the hardest with governments tightening environmental standards and introducing policies to drive renewable energy, Moody’s Investors Service said on Thursday. “For coal power producers, tariff schemes to compensate for lower dispatch volumes or strategies to diversify their energy mix away from coal power are increasingly important,” […]
Asian rice prices are likely to come off their recent peaks soon as fresh supplies from South and Southeast Asia are likely to arrive in global markets over the next few weeks, traders said. Top rice exporter India’s 5% broken parboiled variety hit a one-year high of $385/ton in early September due to higher demand from […]
Economies across developing Asia will contract this year for the first time in nearly six decades but recovery will resume next year, as the region starts to emerge from the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 Update forecasts -0.7% gross domestic product (GDP) growth for developing Asia this year — marking its first negative economic growth since the early 1960s. Growth will […]
