In this week’s Market Movers Asia with Adithya Ram:
- Asian thermal coal prices to be firm
- Venezuelan crude in spotlight after easing of sanctions
- Steel sees higher overall costs amid weaker demand
- Middle East tensions support Asian LNG prices
This week, Asian refiners will continue to closely monitor the Israel-Hamas war, with crude oil traders and the Asian refining industry looking at how the geopolitical turbulence in the Middle East may affect Iranian supplies going forward.
China is expected to release its GDP growth for January to September this week, along with fixed asset investment, industrial production and power consumption data.
These key indicators are likely to shed light on China’s commodity demand outlook for the rest of the year.
Asian thermal coal demand is expected to be stable as China continues to book shipments for winters, and Indian buyers stock up ahead of festivals.
In Indonesia, delay in approval of additional production quota and logistical issues at one of its loading ports may continue to weigh on coal supply.
In rice, trade activity is likely to pick up in the parboiled non-Basmati rice market following the Indian government’s decision of extending export duty on the commodity.
There was uncertainty over whether the 20% export duty on parboiled non-Basmati rice variety will continue beyond Oct 15, which kept trade activity stagnant in the past few days.
I’m Neo Rong Wei, thank you for kicking off your Monday with S&P Global Commodity Insights.