In this week's Market Movers Asia with Pankaj Rao, senior editor, petrochemicals:
* China independent refiners pursue variety of Russian crudes
* Spotlight on India's weather amid wheat harvest season
* Aluminum markets in China face output cuts
* Asian thermal coal market prepares to end lull in deals
This week, China's independent refineries in eastern Shandong are seeking a wide variety of Russian crudes.
At least five Russian Varandey and Novy Port crude cargoes, totaling 605,000 mt, are expected to land in Shandong before the end of February, marking the first arrival of light sweet Russian Arctic crude grades into China this year.
At least two more cargoes are expected in Shandong in March.
In agriculture, the grain markets are concerned about India's wheat output following a warning of above-normal temperatures in key wheat-producing states.
India expects a bumper crop of 112.1 million mt in marketing year 2022-23 (April-March), up 4.2% on the year, according to its agriculture ministry.
But market participants anticipate the output in the 107 million-108 million mt range.
In metals, China's primary aluminum prices are expected to remain rangebound in the near term as smelters in Yunnan further curtail output, while downstream demand remains far from a full recovery.
Though the impact of the cuts will not be visible immediately, market participants are monitoring inventories and the pace of orders ahead of the peak season from March.
In thermal coal, market participants expect higher inquiries from buyers translating into deals.
It remains to be seen if Indian buyers will start bidding aggressively after the government mandated imported coal-based power plants to run at full capacity.
The market will also monitor if Indonesian coal prices will react to higher cargo movements from Australia to China.
I'm Pankaj Rao. Thank you for kicking off your Monday with S&P Global Commodity Insights.