보기: Market Movers Americas, May 9-13: Biden to host Italian prime minister; power sector focuses on supply

In this week's Market Movers: Biden will host Italy's prime minister to discuss a price cap on Russian gas, bullishness in the steel market takes a breather, the power market watches weather forecasts and hydropower generation outlooks as summer approaches, and diesel demand pushes up marine gasoil prices.

Starting in policy, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi is set to visit the White House on Tuesday. He will continue talks with US President Joe Biden around increasing European energy security and cutting dependence on Russian oil and gas. Italy gets about 40% of its gas supply from Russia, and Draghi has proposed setting a price cap on European imports of Russian gas to increase pressure on Moscow without causing energy shortages. Biden and Draghi will also likely discuss the latest on the European Union's proposal to phase out Russian oil imports within six months. This brings us to our social media question of the week: Is a price cap on Russian gas imports feasible for European countries? Tweet us your thoughts.

In metals, bullish sentiment for finished steel prices has cooled this month so far, as concerns around sourcing raw materials have started to disappear and scrap prices have fallen under pressure. In a survey of US producers, distributors, traders and end-users, 50% of respondents expect prices to remain flat in May, compared with 91% expecting increases in April, while 32% think prices will fall slightly during the month. Most respondents say price stability is due to decreasing scrap prices. However, the war in Ukraine and changes in the supply chain could add further volatility to pig iron imports later in the year.

Moving to the power sector, Southwest Power Pool will hold its summer readiness workshop on Thursday. The outlook will consider the weather forecast, generator outages and retirements, fuel supply and other issues to prepare for any operational contingencies this summer. Fuel supply could be a key issue, after SPP and market monitoring officials recently indicated that the coal supply worries that power plants faced this winter could continue into the summer. A heat wave forecast for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas for this week has weakened, but ERCOT has warned of supply constraints and may ask 2.9 gigawatts of generation to delay maintenance outages or return to service May 10-11. Wholesale on-peak prices fell last Friday but remained in the triple digits, with ERCOT North Hub at a 112 dollars-per-megawatt-hour midpoint for May 9, and the May 10-13 package at about 125 dollars per megawatt hour. Meanwhile, across the Western US, widespread drought conditions are weakening hydro outlooks as power forwards trend up on supply concerns. For the first time ever, the US Bureau of Reclamation is changing annual operations at Glen Canyon Dam to protect hydropower generation by allowing more water to flow into Lake Powell from upstream while decreasing the amount released downstream. The change is in place through April 2023. The water supply forecast for Lake Powell, which summarizes hydro conditions throughout the Upper Colorado River Basin, is currently at 59% of normal.

And finally, in dirty products, prices for marine gasoil in the key Latin America port of Balboa have continued to rise with a widening spread to the marine fuel with 0.5 percent S sulfur, or VLSFO. Steep increases seen in the NYMEX prompt-month ULSD contract, higher US diesel demand as summer approaches, and subsequent supply tightness in the Panamanian port have contributed to the increase. In April, MGO in Balboa averaged one thousand, 264 dollars per metric ton ex-wharf, and its premium over VLSFO was 120 dollars per mt higher than in March. However, prices since the end of April have risen even more, and at the end of last week, MGO in Balboa was valued in the low 14 hundreds per metric ton, with a premium to VLSFO of around 490 dollars.

The Platts Atlas of Energy Transition is your map to the sustainable commodity markets of the future. You can explore the Atlas by visiting the address displayed on your screen. Thanks for kicking off your Monday with us, and have a great week ahead.