In this week's Market Movers Asia with Elizabeth Thang:
- Oil, gas companies to meet in Jakarta
- China launches first lithium carbonate futures contract
- Demand for seaborne Asian thermal coal cargoes may rise
- Palm oil prices rise on Black Sea disruptions
This week, major Indonesian and regional oil and gas companies will gather in Jakarta to discuss maximizing oil and gas’ role for economic growth amid the energy transition. This meeting comes after OPEC players called for clearer transition pathways and realistic targets for Asia, as it strives to balance security and affordability amid uneven economic development across the region.
The battery metal market will be closely watching trade activities around China’s first lithium carbonate futures contract, which was listed last week on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange. It is the world’s first contract that allows global physical delivery of the lithium chemical. Going forward, the market will likely look at it for price direction.
In the Asian thermal coal market, inquiries for Australian and Indonesian coal are likely to grow from China after domestic prices in China increased following output cuts and safety inspections of several mines. Indian buyers are expected to be more active in the spot market for booking seaborne cargoes, which would reach them after the monsoon season.
Palm oil markets will price in possible disruptions to sunflower oil shipments from Ukraine after Russia walked away from renewing the Black Sea grain corridor deal and attacked Ukraine’s port facilities last week. Palm oil prices rose late last week after a surge in exports from Indonesia and Malaysia, indicating robust demand and rising prices of soybean and sunflower oils in global vegetable oil markets.
I’m Elizabeth Thang, thank you for kicking off your Monday with S&P Global Commodity Insights.