The spot price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia has surged by more than 20 per cent in one week after demand in key importers China and South Korea picked up. Several buyers have also canceled U.S. LNG cargoes, traders told Reuters The spot price at which several LNG cargoes have been traded have ranged […]
Regional economic growth in developing Asia will decline sharply in 2020 due to the effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, before recovering in 2021, according to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020, the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) annual flagship economic publication. The report forecasts regional growth of 2.2% in 2020, a downward revision of 3.3 […]
After having instructed Aramco to boost production to unseen levels, Saudi Arabia now plans to boost oil exports in May to a record 10 million barrels per day, causing oil prices to fall once again. In the last couple of days, Aramco has offered their Arab Light and Arab Heavy blends for between $25 and $28 dollar per barrel […]
The crude oil benchmarks in the Middle East, Dubai and Oman, continued to fall this week as well, as demand in Asia slumps. The coronavirus has now claimed more victims, and more quickly, than the SARS outbreak in 2003. Oman and Dubai futures dropped for a third consecutive trading day, after falling to a nearly year-low last Thursday, due to […]
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec—the largest oil refiner in Asia—is cutting its refinery production by 600,000 bpd in February, due to decreased fuel demand amid the raging coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported. The spread of the coronavirus and its impact on fuel demand amid travel restrictions and thousands of canceled flights has already had […]
Physical gold demand was subdued in major Asian hubs last week on account of the Lunar New Year holidays, with growing fears the coronavirus outbreak in China could further dampen activity, reports Reuters. China, the world’s biggest gold consumer, is ramping up measures to contain a virus that has killed 26 people, suspending public transport […]
Rising geopolitical tensions and pressures to the global economy will continue to evoke volatility in commodity markets, heightening risks to metal demand and prices, Fitch Solutions’ newest report on key Asia mining themes finds. The Asian mining landscape will continue to benefit from the availability of high-grade resources and low labour costs, although key countries will […]
Prices of Abu Dhabi’s popular flagship crude grade, Murban, have dropped over the past week as refiners prefer grades yielding more low-sulfur marine fuels and as supertanker freight rates soar while refining margins for gasoil in Asia are below the average for this time of the year. Last week, Murban, a light crude with API gravity of […]
China and India are set to dictate oil prices in 2020, noted Reuters’ John Kemp in a recent column that tackled the issue of oil price forecast complexity. They are among the world’s top oil consumers, together accounting for almost a fifth of global oil consumption. According to Kemp, it’s worth keeping tabs on the world’s ten […]
Global coffee consumption will exceed production in the 2019 to 2020 coffee year, creating a global deficit of about 502,000 bags, the International Coffee Organization (ICO). “Despite a slowdown in growth, consumption is predicted to overtake production during the course of the year,” the report said. World production in coffee year 2019/20 is projected to […]
