Here you can access the latest blog posts, podcasts and news as well as Argus’ assessment of how lockdowns, travel restrictions and the vaccine rollout are impacting trade flows.
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Latest related blog posts and podcast episodes
17 diciembre 2020
From the Economist's Chair: Shifting policy priorities will drive China’s 2021 commodity demand
China’s imports of key commodities, totalling 2 billion tons and covering energy, agricultural products and metals, were up by a robust 7% year-on-year (y-o-y) during January-November 2020, with iron ore, soy, meat products and crude oil the strongest performers.
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Asia-Pacific English Agriculture Carbón Crudo Fertilizantes GLP/LGN Metales Gas natural/GNL Petroquímicos18 noviembre 2020
The Crude Report: Freight loses some Covid-19 weight
After an unprecedented rise earlier this year thanks to a surge of floating storage demand, the weight of freight – freight's share of the delivered cost – has returned to the more typical 5pc - 10pc range for US-to-China shipments.
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Crudo Flete y Transporte North America Asia-Pacific English02 noviembre 2020
From the Economist's Chair: US election fog could intensify crude’s roller coaster
Intra-day crude volatility has doubled since early-September, on renewed uncertainty over Opec+ intentions, recovering Libyan production, weakening oil demand amid resurgent Covid-19 and, not least, a fractious US Presidential and Senate election campaign, which may see...
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Crudo North America English26 octubre 2020
From the Economist’s Chair: Energy outlooks offer divergent paths for oil demand
The annual autumn glut of energy outlooks shows disparate potential global oil demand levels by 2040, with Covid-19’s aftermath now augmenting energy transition pathways as a source of uncertainty.
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Crudo Global English Petroquímicos Flete y Transporte Africa Asia-Pacific Europe Latin America and Caribbean North America07 octubre 2020
Malaysian palm oil at a crossroads
Malaysia’s freeze on cross-border hiring in response to Covid-19 has left oil palm estates grappling with a lack of hands during their peak harvesting season, and at a potential turning point in the industry’s labour dynamics.
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Bioenergía Asia-Pacific English01 octubre 2020
The Covid Effect: Peak US energy dominance
Covid-19 has forced a drastic reappraisal of US shale oil growth prospects, amid an economic downturn that has complicated expectations for a presidential election next month that could have even longer-term implications for oil and gas, writes Haik Gugarats.
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Crudo Productos refinados North America English23 septiembre 2020
The Covid Effect: Saudi Arabia checks its vision
The pandemic has dealt Riyadh a triple blow just as Saudi Arabia's de facto leader was trying to steer the country in a new and different direction, writes Samira Kawar.
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Crudo Middle East English23 septiembre 2020
The Crude Report - Opec: 60 years and counting
It’s been 60 years since Opec was formed by founding members Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Venezuela.
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Crudo Global English Asia-Pacific Europe Latin America and Caribbean Middle East North America22 septiembre 2020
Caribbean ammonia: Why are Trinidad prices lagging the international market?
It has been a challenging year for ammonia producers, with spot prices plummeting in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak and industrial demand slashed across several key import regions.
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Fertilizantes Latin America and Caribbean Russian16 septiembre 2020
Pandemic delays start of some minor metals contract negotiations
This is the time of year when the autumn conference season would normally be upon us and industry participants from all over the world would be congregating to mull over the year and to envision future supply-demand plans.
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Metales Global English Asia-Pacific Europe North America16 septiembre 2020
Market Talks: The jump in Brazil’s soybean imports amid the grain’s bumper crop
Increased soybean demand in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic has boosted the country’s imports, despite Brazil achieving its highest ever soybean crop this year, narrowing the country’s trade balance in this commodity.
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Fertilizantes Agriculture Latin America and Caribbean English Portuguese15 septiembre 2020
The Covid Effect: China’s long march to recovery
Beijing faces choices as it looks to revive the Chinese economy, including the degree to which its recovery will depend on oil, gas and coal, write Karen Teo and Tom Reed.
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Asia-Pacific Crudo Productos refinados Carbón Gas natural/GNL Energía eléctrica English26 agosto 2020
Coal imports help Turkish economy in 1H20
Turkish coal imports resisted the economic slowdown driven by Covid-19, rising on the year in the first half of 2020, as a rare move by state-owned utility Euas to support independent coal-fired power plants bolstered demand.
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Carbón Europe English19 agosto 2020
Mexican oil caught between a hug and a hammer
Attacks on Mexico’s energy infrastructure have grown in recent months along with an overall increase in crime. This risks both the already troubled climate for private-sector investment and the government’s own drive to shore up state-owned Pemex.
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Crudo Productos refinados Latin America and Caribbean English10 agosto 2020
Covid-19 weighs on global coal burn in 1H
Coal consumption in key markets slipped during the first half of 2020 as a late recovery in China’s coal burn failed to offset weakness in the earlier periods of the year.
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Carbón Asia-Pacific Europe English23 julio 2020
Market Talks: Outlook for Brazilian exports of poultry and pork meat
Brazilian exports of poultry and pork meat should increase in 2020 against last year, but the pressure exerted by the pandemic in the international trade of these products will have a significant impact on shipments.
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Fertilizantes Latin America and Caribbean Portuguese08 julio 2020
Driving Discussions: How Covid-19 inverted the gasoline-naphtha spread
Welcome to the next episode in Driving Discussions, this time looking at how Covid-19 has turned the naphtha-gasoline relationship on its head.
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Productos refinados Flete y Transporte English Europe08 julio 2020
The Covid-19 impact on logistics in the west African fertilizer market
Welcome to the second episode of our Africa fertilizer knowledge series. In this podcast we discuss the logistical implications of Covid-19 on the west African fertilizer market supply chain.
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Africa Fertilizantes English Seminarios Web30 junio 2020
The Petcoke Podcast: Covid-19 impacts on Atlantic basin fuel coke demand
Welcome to The Petcoke Podcast, a new series discussing key developments for the global petroleum coke markets with expert industry participants.
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Productos refinados Global Europe North America English30 junio 2020
Asia polymers: Chinese demand removes surplus
Low feedstock costs have incentivised producers in Asia-Pacific to maximise polymers production despite weaker demand in this year’s second quarter. Heavy plant maintenance and a demand recovery in China have allowed producers in other regions to balance the demand drop...
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Petroquímicos Asia-Pacific English24 junio 2020
Big Oil grasps the nettle
Major oil companies are grappling with two huge problems – how to navigate their way through the demand and revenue slump triggered by the Covid-19 lockdown, and how to reposition their businesses for the longer term as the world moves towards a lower carbon future.
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Crudo Productos refinados Gas natural/GNL Global English Asia-Pacific Europe Middle East Latin America and Caribbean North America22 junio 2020
From the Economist’s Chair: Paint It Bleak
As summer arrives and the world emerges from lock-down, hopes are high for gradual economic and oil demand recovery. Alongside reasonable levels of Opec+ discipline, this could help place a floor under crude prices. But whisper it quietly, a bleaker scenario also exists...
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Crudo Global English Africa Asia-Pacific Europe Latin America and Caribbean Middle East North America18 junio 2020
Digitalisation of mining to weather future storms
Mining is no stranger to digitalisation. The widely held perception of the resources industry is one of workers in mines and not one of machines running almost everything.
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Metales Global English Asia-Pacific Europe Latin America and Caribbean Middle East North America15 junio 2020
African Fertilizer Knowledge Series: Assessing the impact of Covid-19 on west Africa fertilizer supply and demand
Welcome to the first episode of our Africa fertilizer knowledge series. In this podcast we discuss the supply/demand dynamics in western Africa with the West African Fertilizer Association.
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Fertilizantes Africa10 junio 2020
Driving Discussions: Road to recovery (part 1)
The latest episode in our Driving Discussions series looks at signs of recovery we might expect over the coming weeks and months as countries re-evaluate lockdown policies.
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English Productos refinados03 junio 2020
Covid-19 sows uncertainty for fertilizer demand
Fertilizer could be the next commodity to fall victim to the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, as the slump in demand for fuel — and biofuels — trickles down to the US corn crops used to produce ethanol.
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Fertilizantes North America English02 junio 2020
Over 2mn t — the new China sulphur inventory norm?
China is unique when it comes to sulphur storage, as the key ports of Fangcheng, Beihai and Zhanjiang in the south of the country and the north China ports of Tangshan, Weifang, Zhenjiang and Nanjing have the capacity to hold in excess of 3mn t of sulphur.
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Fertilizantes Asia-Pacific English01 junio 2020
Sizing up Covid-19 iron ore supply risks
The centre of the Covid-19 pandemic is shifting from Europe and the US to countries like India and Brazil, two of the four largest iron ore exporters in the world. Iron ore prices are rising as the focus moves to saving lives.
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Metales Global English Asia-Pacific Europe Latin America and Caribbean North America27 mayo 2020
Bitumen no longer bottom
There have been few positives for refiners during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the strength of bitumen has offered some solace.
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Productos refinados Europe English26 mayo 2020
Crude and jet fuel markets on the runway for price recovery
It may seem remote right now, but despite the recent unparalleled loss of global oil demand, economic forces will sooner or later conspire to rebalance the market as demand recovery takes hold and crude production in high-cost regions falls.
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Productos refinados Crudo Global Africa Asia-Pacific Europe FSU Latin America and Caribbean Middle East North America English26 mayo 2020
Covid-19 highlights unlocked potential of demand-side CO2 cuts
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a disastrous impact on the lives and well-being of citizens across the world. Major economies have been temporarily shut down, while freedom of movement has virtually ground to a halt.
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Emisiones Europe English26 mayo 2020
Impact of IMO 2020 and Covid-19 on heavy products
Find out how the heavy products have reacted to the compound effect of IMO 2020 and Covid-19 in this latest Argus update.
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Global Productos refinados18 mayo 2020
Driving Discussions: Balancing Russia's gasoline market in volatile times
Listen in to the latest Driving Discussions podcast, this time spotlighting the state of Russia's gasoline market in the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
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FSU Productos refinados Flete y Transporte18 mayo 2020
Covid-19 — questions from the sulphur market on the sulphur market
Listen in as Claira Lloyd answers questions from her most recent webinar on Covid-19's impact on the global sulphur market.
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Global Fertilizantes14 mayo 2020
A perfect storm for GCC steelmakers
The Covid-19 pandemic, combined with the timing of the oil price collapse, could have created one of the most hostile steel markets for the GCC region ever.
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Metales Middle East English14 mayo 2020
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Asian bitumen markets | Episode 2
The impact of Covid-19 has been felt significantly in Asian bitumen markets in Asia. As countries shut borders and enforced lockdowns, road construction activity slowed and then completely halted.
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Productos refinados Asia-Pacific English14 mayo 2020
French nuclear crisis: Will history repeat itself?
The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted most aspects of life, and French power plant maintenance schedules are no exception. Could the French power market be about to experience its most challenging winter since 2016-17?
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Energía eléctrica Europe English13 mayo 2020
Driving Discussions: The Impact of Covid-19 on European fuel markets and refineries (part 2)
The Driving Discussions series returns to Europe to examine the changes in Covid-19's impact on refineries with a special focus on utilisation rates.
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Europe English Productos refinados05 mayo 2020
Covid-19 crushes global power demand and coal consumption in April
Global coal demand was dealt a significant blow in April, as restrictions in many countries to curb the spread of Covid-19 slashed power demand and weighed heavily on industrial output.
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Carbón Asia-Pacific Europe English29 abril 2020
Podcast - Driving Discussions: The impact of Covid-19 on European biofuels markets and HVO
Join the latest Driving Discussions podcast for coverage of the European HVO and biofuel markets amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
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English Europe Bioenergía Productos refinados23 abril 2020
Portuguese podcast - Market Talks: The impacts of Covid-19 on Brazil’s clean fuels markets
Measures enforced to prevent the spread of coronavirus had a strong impact on the oil and refined products demand around the globe. How big is the drop in demand for clean fuels in Brazil, and how will it reflect in domestic trade flows?
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Productos refinados Latin America and Caribbean North America Portuguese22 abril 2020
Podcast: The impact of Covid-19 on European bitumen
Coronavirus has affected commodity markets across the globe, and bitumen is no exception. Tune in to this latest podcast to learn how the pandemic has impacted bitumen markets in Europe and Africa.
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Africa English Europe Productos refinados22 abril 2020
Podcast - Driving Discussions: The surprising RINs market during Covid-19
While all other energy commodities markets around the world have seen a severe dip in prices, RINs prices in the US are steady. What is causing the RINs market in the US to react this way and what is the outlook?
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Productos refinados North America English21 abril 2020
South African coal industry faces up to 14-year low prices
After trading at nearly $100/t over the winter, South African high calorific value (CV) coal prices fell to a 14-year low this week amid subdued demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Carbón Global English Africa Asia-Pacific Latin America and Caribbean North AmericaOther content related to the coronavirus
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Webinar: Online Crude Forum
9 September 2020: The global Covid-19 crisis and its impact on economic activity has caused demand for refined oil products to plummet, closely followed by production. Please note that we have two sessions covering different topics on 9 September. -
White Paper: Covid-19 to change the structure of base and minor metals markets
Argus metals assesses prices for key battery components and prices for base metals which have experienced much volatility since the start of the Covid-19 crisis. -
Webinar: Sulphur Market Outlook
30 July 2020: Join us to discover key April-July pricing and supply trends, third quarter contracts, the impact of Covid-19, project updates and capacity outlook, the global sulphur balance forecast and more. -
Webinar: Argus Base Oils Virtual Forum 2020
7 July 2020: Argus is excited to meet you online this year. Argus’ Asia-Pacific and Europe market experts will focus on the impact of Covid-19 in the first half of 2020 and what to expect in the second half of the year. -
Webinar: Covid-19 — What does this mean for Asian bitumen markets?
2 July 2020: Join Argus Media’s Asia Asphalt Editor Aabha Gandhi as she discusses how Covid-19 changed the Asia-Pacific and Middle East bitumen markets in the first half of 2020, and share Argus’ view for the next quarter. -
Webinar: Covid-19 and the Global LNG Market
4 June 2020: How has the Covid-19 pandemic reshaped global LNG demand; what are the implications for new projects coming on stream and awaiting FID; and what additional pressures has the pandemic put on long-term LNG contract structures? -
White Paper: Battery Materials
4 June 2020: Global demand for lithium-based energy storage systems (ESS) is accelerating as costs decline, despite near-term disruptions to the supply chain from the Covid-19 pandemic. -
White paper: Mixed prospects for China’s rare earths market amid Covid-19
4 June 2020: China’s rare earths market is facing mixed prospects as global economies and industries reel from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. -
Webinar: The Impact of Covid-19 on Wire & Cable demand
28 May 2020: Join Teis Sherman, analyst - metals, as he delivers an overview of the short term and long term outlook for global wire and cable markets. -
Webinar - Covid-19: The natural gas view from Europe
21 May 2020: How have the Covid-19 shutdowns affected fundamentals in Europe’s over-supplied gas market? In this webinar, we look at the impact of the pandemic and prospects for the rest of 2020. -
Webinar: Will APAC jet fuel markets ever be the same?
20 May 2020: The Covid-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on Asia-Pacific jet fuel markets, with airlines all but grounding their fleets as travel and jet fuel demand have taken a severe hit. -
Webinar: US LNG and the impact of Covid-19
7 May 2020: The US LNG market is evolving faster than ever amidst the global coronavirus pandemic. In this webinar, we discuss recent changes in export capacities, and what this means for planned projects. -
White Paper: EU ETS emissions set for further sharp decline
14 May 2020: GHG emissions are set to fall dramatically this year due to measures taken to slow and contain the spread of Covid-19, leaving EU leaders under growing pressure to make key decisions over the carbon market’s supply structure. -
White Paper: Coronavirus impact on European petrochemical market
29 April 2020: The rate of new Covid-19 infections, intensive care admissions and deaths fell across most of western Europe during the past week. The sustained decline encouraged some governments to cautiously begin to ease lockdown measures, notably in Germany, but the picture remains mixed. -
White Paper: Pandemic and price war
29 April 2020: The first quarter of 2020 has seen unprecedented upheaval and disruption, not just to daily life, but also to energy and commodity markets with LPG no exception. But while the pandemic has wreaked havoc across jet fuel, gasoline and diesel markets, the impact of Covid-19 on LPG which is both an essential fuel and feedstock — has been somewhat different to other products. -
Webinar: Covid-19 and the impact on Indonesian coal market fundamentals
28 April 2020. Argus Media’s coal editorial team discusses Covid-19’s impact on market developments in Asia-Pacific. This will cover Indonesian supply, demand centres, recovery timeline and challenges facing China and India. -
White Paper: Covid-19 provokes sharp fall in global wire and cable demand
09 April 2020: Coronavirus will lead to a sharp contraction in global wire and cable demand throughout 2020 as reduced fixed investment, industrial activity and private consumption stifle end market demand. -
White Paper: Asia polymers face more demand weakness
25 March 2020: Polymer prices in Asia are coming under further pressure because of a lack of resin demand as the region grapples with the coronavirus pandemic. -
Webinar: Biomass markets adjust to challenging times
25 March 2020: Discussing market developments in APAC, Europe and the US, policy changes impacting wood pellet and PKS trade flows and the outlook for 2020. -
White Paper: Indian polymers under strain
24 March 2020: India’s polymer trading has slowed amid the coronavirus outbreak in China. Market participants expect further declines from a slowdown in polymer consumption in China. -
Weekly update on China petrochemicals plants production
Each week Argus provides updates on petrochemical plants production, polymer plants production and methanol and syngas MEG plants production. -
Webinar: Dealing with disruption in the iron ore markets
19 March 2020: Join Argus' Chris Newman, senior editor, ferrous markets, for a review on the recent disruptors of iron ore markets. -
Webinar: Coronavirus outbreak - Impact on base oils
Join Argus' Guo Harn (Marc) Hong, senior analyst, base oils, for an analysis of the coronavirus impact on global base oils markets. -
White Paper: Battery Materials - China EV slowdown
A weaker economy and lower NEV subsidies that were introduced in 2019 precipitated a drop in Chinese NEV production and sales last year. The coronavirus outbreak has put further downward pressure on the sector in 1Q 2020. -
White Paper: The impact of coronavirus on propylene
What will be the impact on propylene — for production and consumption — of the continued escalation of the coronavirus crisis and the increasingly stringent measures put in place by governments to control its spread? -
Webinar (Chinese): China's rare earths market
Rare earth prices began to fall in late February owing to a rise in supplies as the outbreak eased, and weak demand from downstream sectors. Meanwhile, prices for medium and heavy rare earths have continued to rise since February. -
White Paper: Coronavirus impact on Asia's steel markets
Coronavirus impacts have been pronounced across China’s and Asia’s ferrous industry. In its wake, it has exposed unnecessary weaknesses in steel pricing structures. Will the steel industry emerge stronger? -
Webinar (Chinese): Asia-Pacific's bunker market
A fall in crude prices and the continued spread of the coronavirus have created substantial market volatility in the marine fuels market. Watch this webinar (Chinese) for updates on the APAC bonded bunkers market. -
Webinar on global rare earths markets
Webinar topics include Argus' rare earths coverage, the impact of the virus outbreak on rare earths supply and demand, an overview of rare earths prices in January-February, and an outlook and forecast. -
White paper: The Coronavirus Impact
In this white paper, Argus assesses the immediate fallout from the virus on multiple commodities and the potential impact for the rest of this year.
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