In this week's Market Movers Asia with Rituparna Nath:
- Asian refiners may cut Saudi crude oil term nominations
- India’s LNG demand in focus
- Smelters in China’s Yunnan likely to resume operations
- Australia’s wheat crop seen down 34% amid El Nino threat
- Asian thermal coal market eyes demand recovery
This week, several Asian refiners are expected to make voluntary cuts to their Saudi crude oil term nominations. This comes following Saudi Aramco's hike of 45 cents/b to the July official selling price differentials across all its grades to Asia.
LNG market participants will keep an eye on India. Tenders could be floated if prices stay below $9/MMBtu. State-owned Indian Oil Corporation recently awarded 12 cargoes for delivery in 2026.
In the battery metals space, the market will be watching the lithium carbonate futures listing on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange, which started emulation trade on June 6.
Aluminum smelters in China’s Yunnan province will likely restart their idled capacity as weather conditions improve in the southern parts. Primary smelters are expected to receive 2 million kilowatts of electricity to restart operations due to increased hydropower generation in the province.
Grain markets will closely monitor Australia’s wheat planting amid concerns of an El Nino formation this year. The Australian wheat harvest this year is predicted to decline almost 34% from last year.
Finally, in the thermal coal market, Indian end-users are waiting for prices to bottom out and are expected to return to the spot market soon.
I’m Rituparna Nath. Thank you for kicking off your Monday with S&P Global Commodity Insights.