The Asian thermal coal market is at an interesting crossroads this week, as Chinese buyers make a cautious return to the Asia seaborne market after their week-long holiday. Meanwhile, buyers in Japan continue to wrestle with Australian coal suppliers over prices for term contracts starting October...

Recent Platts spot billet upcharges are being driven higher by strong extrusion demand and a handful of supply issues, which may continue into next year. Karen McBeth, director of metals pricing and market engagement, speaks with Sarah Baltic Hilliard, Americas aluminum products pricing specialist,...

Over the past two weeks, the alumina market has seen high prices, fewer spot cargoes and talks of refinery cuts, sending prices to multi-year highs. In this podcast, S&P Global Platts editors Yuen Cheng Mok and Joanna Lim examine the surge in alumina prices and look at market expectations in...

Russia's recent focus on diversifying its export markets in Asia dovetails with plans by many countries in the region to expand refining capacities, which is reflected in a growing number of joint projects agreed recently.S&P Global Platts managing editor in Moscow Nadia Rodova discusses how...

The future of antidumping duties against Argentinian biodiesel were finally confirmed this week, stipulating duties to be reduced by September 28. S&P Global Platts European biofuels editor, George Griffiths and global editorial director for agriculture, Tim Worledge discuss the potential...

The polyethylene terephthalate market saw prices spike at the beginning of August when Lotte declared FM at one of its two plants in Wilton, UK. S&P Global Platts editor Sarah-Jane Flaws details the current situation and the expectation over the coming months.We welcome any feedback or...

The advent of the new sugar crop and overhaul of the European sugar regime in October are causing a stir in the European ethanol industry, as market participants expect to see some sugar-beet-based ethanol capacity return to the market.Further down the line, concerns around the potential removal of...

Monday's eclipse cut a path across the US, causing concern for power grid operators — especially those with significant amounts of solar power generation. How did prices react, and what else is ahead in 2017? The North American power pricing team of Kassia Micek, Charles Noh and Jeff Zhou...

Approximately 90% of the world’s trade travels by sea and one would expect the industry's supply chain to be the height of modernity by adopting disruptive technology and strategies. However, this could not be further from the truth, as S&P Global Platts commodities associate Eleni...

A US appeals court rejected the Environmental Protection Agency's use of waiver authority to lower the federal biofuel mandate's blending volumes based on downstream constraints, but the decision leaves a lot of questions about how to find RINs to make up compliance shortfalls. Josh Pedrick and Wes...

With the future of anti-dumping duties against Argentinian and Indonesian biodiesel uncertain, S&P Global Platts editors Tim Worledge, Samar Niazi and George Griffiths take a look at how this could change the global biodiesel market and the emergence of new trade flows stemming from this,...

Alumina prices started the year on a high note, and corrected in the second quarter. What's instore for the Asian alumina market for the rest of the year? Editors Yuen Cheng Mok and Joanna Lim examine the factors that could affect the market in the second half, including China's drive to tackle...

The US Environmental Protection Agency's proposed 2018 renewable volume obligations were released July 5, and responses from biofuels and oil industry players were mixed. Biofuels reporters Josh Pedrick and Wes Swift, as well as policy reporter Brian Scheid, crunch the numbers and consider how...

Asia's seaborne thermal coal market unexpectedly took off in June on a sudden surge in demand from Chinese buyers including large power utilities after a relatively subdued May. In this podcast, senior editor Michael Cooper joins editor Michelle Zhao in examining what's driving coal buyers in China...

Tom Crotty, director of European petrochemical company Ineos talks about its recent expansion plans underpinned by the need for more ethylene and propylene in Europe. The plans include a new propane dehydrogenation unit in Europe and expansion of ethylene capacity in Rafnes, Norway and Grangemouth,...

Russian and Saudi relations are emerging in the wider energy sphere and how these deepening ties feed into the whole OPEC/non-OPEC cooperation is begging the question as to whether one is a precursor to the other, according to associate editorial director Paul Hickin and managing editor Nadia...

The US aluminum industry is keeping a close eye on automotive sales forecasts and competition among smelters with the approach of summer — a typical time for maintenance shutdowns. Pricing specialists Sarah Baltic Hilliard and Alex Ifkovits delve into secondary aluminum trends and the current...

The Turkish polyethylene market faces tough times ahead due to the combination of a resurgent lira, high Asian polyethylene stocks, weak domestic demand and rising supplies from both east and western markets. S&P Global Platts North Africa and Turkey petrochemicals editor Daved Chohan and...

The North American power pricing team takes a coast-to-coast look at the US electric power landscape, including forecast demand, generating capacity and prices for ERCOT, Cal-ISO and the PJM Interconnection. Kassia Micek, Charles Noh and Jeff Zhou evaluate how the power markets are shaping up as...

Volumes of palm oil methyl ester from Southeast Asia is heading towards the European biofuels complex, as Europe's blending and production hubs of Spain and Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp soak up imports to fire FAME 0 production. S&P Global Platts editors Tim Worledge and George Griffiths...

Neil Atkinson, Head of the IEA Oil Industry & Markets Division, talks to S&P Global Platts senior oil news editor, Robert Perkins, on the outlook for global oil market balances, the recent oil price slip, the implications of potential rollover of output cuts by OPEC and other key oil...

The Eastern Fuel Buyers Conference draws coal players from all basins and different market segments, and the mood had lifted this year as the industry welcomes an uptick in demand and new administration in the White House. Coal Trader editors Jeff McDonald and Jim Levesque both attended the...

Expectations are rife of an introduction of consumption taxes on mixed aromatics into China. But will this change the face of the European blending components market? Yuriko Kato, petrochemicals EMEA editor, explores this subject with the aromatics senior specialist, Sam Hashmi, and the gasoline...

Extremely volatile metallurgical coal and coke prices, and delays in industry reference pricing is pushing uncertainty into the market. There is speculation around the rate of return for shipments from Queensland, and how much further restocking is expected.At the recent Eurocoke conference in...

Paul Harnick, head of chemicals and the global chemicals chief operating officer at KPMG, joins Yuriko Kato, reporter in the European petrochemicals team, to discuss the latest trends in M&As in the petrochemicals industry.Despite significant political unknowns, from Brexit negotiations to the...

In 2020 the shipping industry is facing its biggest change since the shift away from burning coal a century ago as the IMO is set to impose a new 0.5% sulfur cap on marine fuel emissions. S&P Global Platts associate director Paul Hickin and editorial lead for bunker news Jack Jordan assess the...

Turkey stopped Russian grain imports following a government decision in mid-March. What impact did the lack of Russian grains imported into Turkey have on the milling and processing industry, how is the decision likely to affect the trading landscape, and will Turkish consumers continue buying...

Unica, Brazil's sugar industry group, is seeking the reinstatement of an ethanol import tariff, citing greenhouse gas emissions from other producers and surging ethanol imports — especially from the US. Biofuels analyst Beatriz Pupo talks to US ethanol editor Josh Pedrick about how Brazil's...

S&P Global Platts content director for EMEA metals Christopher Davis, and senior writer Robert Perkins -– just back to London from the shores of Lake Geneva -- discuss the outlook from the recent FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland. From oil to metals and mining to...

It was another busy International Petrochemical Conference from the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers in San Antonio, and our editors and analysts share what they learned from various conversations about olefins, polymers, aromatics and intermediates. John Calton, managing editor for...

It seems Mother Nature decided to skip most of winter in the Northeast US this year, but a recent cold snap bumped up power and gas prices in March and the region's generation mix is still changing. Charles Noh and Eric Wieser, with the power pricing team, examine how day-ahead power prices were...

Senior editor Michael Cooper and associate editor Mia Corazon Aureus give an overview of Asian thermal coal markets, including the latest in Japan's benchmark contract negotiations, South Korean imports and coal consumption tax updates, Indonesian prices, and our newly-launched Northeast Asian...

On both sides of the Atlantic, recent political developments are starting to have an impact on what will end up on your plate. Fresh back from the International Sweetener Colloquium, Tim Worledge, editorial director of pricing, sits down with Thomas Houghton, senior pricing specialist, to take a...

Last year, CSX's chemical segment surpassed coal as the railroad's largest revenue generator as it and other railroads are moving more resin and years of polymer production growth is coming. Kristen Hays, petrochemical analyst, examines how railroads are looking to fill space where coal revenues...

Ahead of the launch of formal Brexit divorce negotiations expected in March, Thierry Bros, senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies joins Lucie Roux, senior European gas specialist at S&P Global Platts, to discuss the challenges ahead for an import-dependent UK gas...

On February 8, the European Commission dropped its anti-dumping duty on imports of PET from China, which were as high as 22.9%. But will the European PET producers now find themselves with an elephant in the room? Shashank Shekhar, petrochemicals EMEA news editor, explores this subject with the PET...

It would hardly be an understatement to say Russia has fallen on hard economic times in recent years, although this does not tell the whole story. Tim Worledge, editorial director of pricing, joins Erin Burns, senior analyst, and Thomas Houghton, senior pricing specialist, to discuss some of the...

Preliminary data for January indicates that Russian oil producers are complying with an OPEC/non-OPEC deal to cut crude output, which alongside Russia's relationship with the new US administration looks set to have a significant impact on Russian oil in 2017. Nadia Rodova, managing editor at...

US thermal coal prices have risen over the past few months, largely lifted by higher gas prices for power generation, and forecasts for a tighter gas market in 2017 is good news for coal producers. Jim Levesque and Jeff McDonald, associate editors for Coal Trader, detail price movements for Central...

Tim Worledge and Claudiu Covrig look at the intricate interplay between supply and demand in the global sugar markets, and mull the impact of recovering sugar production in India and Thailand, the return of the EU to the international markets and the effect of prolonged poor monsoons in India which...

Mike Boswell, chair of the Brexit Committee at the British Plastic Federation assesses the challenges for an import dependent UK plastics industry post Brexit. UK converters face legislation changes, currency volatility and uncertainty in demand as the UK moves towards leaving the European Union.We...

After years of steady price declines, European power markets are dancing to a lively tune of nuclear outages, low wind and spiky Winter demand. Will prices rebalance once the current capacity squeeze is over? S&P Global Platts power reporters Henry Edwardes-Evans and Andreas Franke compare...

Can the abandoned smaller TEU vessels become the workhorse for the customer focused container market? S&P Global Platts senior editor Andrew Scorer explores some potential options for these vessels to become a key player and provide a competitive advantage.RELATED CONTENTBlog post -- Container...

Wholesale electric power prices in the US are starting 2017 by ticking upward, lifted by firmer natural gas prices, which overall has caused coal generation to take some of gas generation’s share in the overall fuel mix. Kassia Micek and Eric Wieser of the North American power pricing team...

It's been tough going for the secondary aluminum market over the last few months, and an ample alloy supply is weighing on the US market as the year ends. Sarah Baltic Hilliard, metals market editor in Pittsburgh, assesses the current market level for the A380 aluminum benchmark and what is...

S&P Global Platts editors Jacqueline Holman and Cameron Carswell discuss recent moves in European and Asian thermal coal markets, from the rapid increase in prices which saw the Australian market hit $115.50/mt FOB for 6,000 NAR kcal/kg cargoes, to the more recent price retreat and where the...

In October 2016, new gas balancing schemes were rolled out in Italy and Spain to align the two countries gas hubs with European standards.Market reporters Dalila Ouerghi and Mario Perez discuss the implementation of these new gas balancing regimes, their effect on liquidity and the feedback from...

It's a much different picture for American natural gas, coal and power than just a few days ago as the US energy industry eyes a future under President-elect Donald Trump. Not only will key Washington appointees shift the tone of agencies like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the...