- El Nino concerns cloud Australian wheat prospects
- Falling Asian spot LNG prices in focus
- Inflation curbs oil demand in Indonesia
- Demand likely to pick up in Asian thermal coal market
This week, in agriculture, grain markets will keep an eye on Australian wheat planting progress amid growing concerns of the El Niño climate phenomenon, which generally leads to lower rainfall in Australia.
El Nino could adversely impact Australian wheat crop output, which is expected to fall by around 30% in 2023-24 from the previous harvest.
Over in LNG, focus will be on Asian spot prices, which reached a two-year low in the first week of May on weak buying interest.
South Korea and Japan, two of the world’s largest LNG importers, are currently seeing higher inventories as lower consumption and a pick-up in nuclear power supply helped offset some of the heat wave-driven demand in parts of Asia.
In oil, Indonesia’s gasoline demand is likely to remain subdued due to high inflation rates in the country.
According to an S&P Global Commodity Insights survey, Indonesia is expected to import around 9.5-10.5 million barrels of gasoline in May, down from an estimated 12 million barrels in April.
In Asian thermal coal, Chinese demand is expected to pick up as market participants return from the Labor Day holidays.
Markets will also be watching whether supply disruption caused by a train derailment in Indonesia impacts seaborne spot coal prices.
I am Surbhi Prasad, thank you for kicking off your Monday with me.