In this Market Movers Asia with Vandana Sebastian:
- Australian workers’ strike fears push LNG prices
- Thermal coal may see buying from India
- China lithium prices to remain subdued
- Palm oil prices set to rise
- New Zealand carbon price to remain supported
This week, global gas markets will be closely watching the workers’ strike situation in Australia, which has only been partially resolved.
Gas producer Woodside Energy has managed to avert a strike at its flagship LNG project. However, Chevron’s negotiations with unions are still ongoing and will determine the direction of the strike.
Gas and LNG prices will be sensitive to any developments. Asian LNG prices rallied around 25% over Aug 1-24 amid fears of worker strikes.
The Asian thermal coal spot market may see Indian buyers book cargoes this week as they look to restock their inventories after the monsoon season. Meanwhile, a weaker yuan is likely to keep Chinese end-users away from the market.
Chinese lithium market participants expect demand to pick up slightly as prices approach the bottom. Oversupply and weak prices are likely to persist as production from new projects has been rising in the country.
Traders expect the benchmark crude palm oil contract for November delivery to rally this week on bullish fundamentals amid active buying from China and higher global vegetable prices seen last week.
New Zealand carbon prices are expected to remain strong after trading higher recently, supported by the government’s decision to reverse its policy and strengthen the price settings for the New Zealand Unit auctions.
I’m Vandana Sebastian. Thank you for kicking off your Monday with S&P Global Commodity Insights.