보기: Market Movers Asia, May 2-6: Asian refiners to continue gaining from surging oil product margins

This week: All eyes on China as the country temporarily waives import duty on coal, palm and soybean oil prices rise after Indonesia declared an indefinite ban on all palm oil exports, and Asia-Pacific LNG market continues to contend with concerns around stoppage of Russian pipeline gas deliveries to Europe.

But first, Asian refiners and traders are expected to continue focusing on surging refining margins and oil product cracks. Tight supply and rapid improvement in people mobility amid loosened COVID-19 restrictions is expected to inject strength into the market. Refining margins are running high as sanctions against Moscow are limiting Russian oil product trades.

Chinese fuel production and exports are low amid lockdowns in the country's major cities, with margins for diesel, gasoline and jet fuel outperforming due to rapidly improving people mobility across Asia and Oceania. Gasoline demand is expected to be supported by the Ramadan and Eid festivities in Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as by increased mobility in the Philippines ahead of the presidential elections May 9. Demand is also expected to see an uptick in Australia as Sydney rolled back COVID-19 restrictions, including compulsory isolation for close contacts.

Next up, in the Asian thermal coal market, all eyes will be on China as the country temporarily waives off import duty on coal from any origin starting May 1. It remains to be seen if Chinese buyers will take advantage of the upcoming duty-free regime and ramp up imports, or if they will continue to rely on domestic supply of cheaper coal to meet their needs.

Moving to agriculture, markets are watching developments around vegetable oils after Indonesia, the world's largest edible oils supplier, declared an indefinite ban on all palm oil exports from April 28. The move comes at a crucial time as the world battles food inflation, led by strained supply chains and higher input and energy costs. Indonesia's announcement expands on its earlier ban stopping exports of refined palm olein, which sent ripples across global vegetable oil markets.

Meanwhile, in grains, markets are closely watching Australia's wheat planting campaign as rising fertilizer costs are seen weighing on the seeded area of wheat for the upcoming marketing year. The US Department of Agriculture has projected a 20 percent year-on-year fall in Australia's wheat output in the upcoming marketing year due to a drop in the area and yield. This would eventually cut its wheat exports by 20% on the year to 22 million metric tons. A sharp drop in wheat shipments in Australia, a key wheat exporter, will be significant as global wheat supplies are already tight, spurring a sharp increase in prices.

Moving to LNG, the Asia-Pacific LNG market continues to contend with concerns around stoppages of Russian pipeline gas deliveries to Europe with gas flows cut to Poland and Bulgaria. This was despite tepid demand from most end-users across the Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China region, with China and Japan sitting on healthy inventory levels. The ongoing COVID-19 situation in China could continue to depress downstream demand, which has led to gas prices for power plants and city gas being slashed by local governments.

That brings us to our social media question for the week: Will China's imports of thermal coal rise following the lifting of the import duty? Share your thoughts on Twitter and LinkedIn.

And finally, prices in the voluntary carbon market are expected to remain weak, as fundamentals remain shaky amid a lack of demand. The concerns over rising inflation denting the economy further took the air out of the carbon market last week. Platts CEC and CNC prices fell, with traders not expecting the momentum to pick up this week either.

Thanks for kicking off your Monday with us. Have a great week ahead!