Assistir: Market Movers Asia, Oct. 3-7: Asia-Pacific LNG freight rates rise on winter storage demand; OPEC+ meeting in focus

This week, Asia-Pacific LNG freight rates are likely to remain firm on strong demand for floating storage.

Several bigger size, or XDF, ships have been reserved to store LNG for winter, pushing up rates to $250,000/day, the highest in almost 11 months.

Some temporary relief is possible if the resumption of shipments from the Freeport LNG plant in the US is delayed to next year, freeing up more ships.

In oil, Asian refiners are weighing the possibility of OPEC and its allies sharply reducing crude production quotas in coming months to put the brakes on falling oil prices.

The producer group is scheduled to meet October 5 to decide on November production levels. It trimmed production quotas by 100,000 b/d for October.

Agriculture market participants this week will be closely watching the wheat buying patterns of Southeast Asian nations, including key buyer Indonesia, that usually depend on supplies from Australia and Argentina.

With supplies from both countries impacted by extreme weather, Indonesia and Vietnam have been seen buying US wheat.

Indonesian thermal coal prices are expected to remain steady as Chinese market participants remain on the sidelines due to the week-long National Day holidays.