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Russia tightens grip over grain exports with state-led association

Major grain traders in Russia have agreed to create a new exporters’ association led by a state-controlled firm, increasing the government’s influence over supplies from the world’s biggest wheat exporter. Russia’s agriculture ministry has been meeting regularly with big exporters since September to monitor exports amid a lower 2018 crop. In February, it asked the industry to set up a new grain exporters’ union, saying that would help it to better understand the needs of the market. Eduard Zernin, deputy chief executive of Russia’s state grain trader the United Grain ...

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Exports of four main Nigerian crude grades to rise in June – programmes

Exports of Nigeria’s four main crude oil grades are set to jump in June to 895,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 740,000 bpd in May, according to preliminary loading programmes. Nigerian producer Aiteo said it declared force majeure over the weekend on one of the two trunk lines transporting Bonny Light to the export terminal after a fire. It was not immediately clear how the rate of exports would be affected. The following is a table showing the rate of exports of the four key grades: Grade June (bpd) May ...

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Post US sanctions, India assures of a robust oil import plan

A day after a surge in crude oil prices sent Sensex and Nifty to their steepest drop this year, the Indian government issued a statement spelling out the country’s ‘robust’ energy sourcing plan starting May. This comes in the backdrop of US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Monday announcing that the Trump administration would no longer grant exemptions, with the conditional waiver set to expire on 2 May. The US had granted exemptions to China, India, Italy, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey ‘to ensure a well-supplied oil ...

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China to release guidelines on steel industry consolidation

China will soon release guidelines to push mergers and restructuring plans for the steel industry to facilitate the creation of larger and stronger groups that can compete in the global market, according to a report by the Economic Information Daily. The guidelines, aiming to clear obstacles in steel consolidation, will encourage cross-region and cross-ownership mergers and restructurings by qualified enterprises, the paper cited unnamed authorities. Market funds will also be welcome to take part in the effort to offer more financial support for the move, the paper said. Compared with ...

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Uncertainties Plague EU Steel Market

Strip mill product basis prices began to stabilise in southern Europe, in April, whilst small downward corrections were noted in the north. Overall demand, in the region, is subdued. Sentiment is poor – badly affected by the ongoing reduction in orders from the automotive sector. Moreover, in many countries, concern exists about Brexit, especially if a ‘no deal’ scenario is the outcome. The general weakness of a number of key European economies, together with local and European elections, in May, are exacerbating the feeling of uncertainty. The substantial import tonnages ...

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India to surge past US in steel use in 2019, rank next only to China: study

India will outstrip the United States to become the second largest steel consuming nation in the world in calendar 2019 after China. China, the largest market for steel, will ace the rankings with an estimated consumption of 843.3 million tonnes in 2019. In 2020 too, India will pip US to finish as the second largest user of steel, according to World Steel Association (WSA). The usage of finished steel products in India is pegged at 102.8 million tonnes in 2019, rising to 110.2 million tonnes (mt) in 2020. The country’s ...

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Soybeans recover from 5-month low, supply pressure caps gains

Chicago soybean futures edged higher on Wednesday as bargain buying lifted the market after rising South American production and slowing Chinese demand pushed the market to a five-month low in the previous session. Wheat lost ground as expectations of a bumper crop across much of the northern hemisphere weighed on prices. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.3 percent at $8.64-1/4 a bushel by 0335 GMT. The market slumped on Tuesday to its lowest since Nov. 27 at $8.60-3/4 a bushel. Wheat lost 0.2 ...

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Column: Funds set new bearish benchmark across CBOT grains and oilseeds

Speculators reached record levels of bearishness in Chicago-traded grain and oilseeds last week as global supplies continue to expand in the absence of any serious threats to crops on the horizon. Commodity funds were net sellers across the board last week and they have not changed their minds in the days since. Traditionally, investors are unlikely to turn too pessimistic on grains and oilseeds heading into U.S. corn and soybean growing season. But the extreme short position holds much lower risk than usual for commodity funds, particularly in corn, because ...

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Japan’s FY 2018 steel output slips 2% on year to 102.89 mil mt

Japan’s crude steel output in fiscal 2018, which ended March 2019, fell 1.9% year on year to 102.89 million mt, reflecting two consecutive years of decline, according to the latest data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation. Within the fiscal 2018 total, production by converter was down 3% year on year at 76.85 million mt, while those by electric furnaces rose 1.8% year on year to 26.04 million mt. A JISF official said the drop in total was because of natural disasters which had hit Japan in the ...

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Shanghai crude oil futures close higher

Crude oil futures closed higher Wednesday on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange. The most active crude oil contract for June delivery was up 3.5 yuan (about 52 U.S. cents) to close at 497.0 yuan a barrel. On Wednesday, the total trading volume for seven listed crude oil futures contracts on the exchange was 251,110 lots, with a turnover of 125.0 billion yuan. China launched the crude oil futures trading, which is open to overseas investment, on March 26 last year. Source: Xinhua

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Iran sanctions decision rewards hedge fund oil bulls: Kemp

Hedge fund managers added even more bullish long positions in crude oil and gasoline last week as traders bet prices will continue rising despite a sluggish economy and political sensitivity around escalating motoring costs. The Trump administration’s decision to toughen sanctions on Iran’s oil exports has rewarded fund managers who have been increasingly confident that the oil market will tighten significantly this year, lifting prices. Even before the latest sanctions announcement, hedge funds and other money managers increased their net long position in the six most important petroleum futures and ...

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How Trump’s Stifling of Iran Waivers Affects the OPEC+ Oil Cuts

The U.S. is ending waivers that let countries buy Iranian crude without running afoul of sanctions, threatening to squeeze oil supplies in an already tight market. The decision may also jeopardize the deal that OPEC and allied suppliers including Russia reached to limit output until the end of June to buttress crude and avert a glut. The producers are to meet next month to assess the market and again in June to decide whether to extend cuts. 1. What happened? Washington said it won’t renew exemptions from U.S. sanctions for ...

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India to get extra oil from major producers to make up for Iran oil loss: minister

India will get additional supplies from other major oil producing countries to compensate for the loss of Iranian oil, India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said. The United States on Monday demanded that buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May 1 or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which had allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers, most of them in Asia, to continue to import limited volumes. Pradhan said on Twitter that India has put in place a robust plan for adequate supply of crude oil to ...

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Weak first quarter seen for U.S. refiners, but brighter summer expected

U.S. independent refiners are expected to roll out lower than expected first-quarter profits after a spate of outages, weak gasoline margins and a surge in the price of Canadian oil, according to analysts. Major independent refiners cut production dramatically during the quarter, with some electing to undergo maintenance rather than produce barrels at a time when gasoline margins slumped. Several major U.S. refiners, including Valero Energy Corp, HollyFrontier Corp, and Marathon Petroleum Corp, are all expected to fall short of consensus estimates when they report results, according to Refinitiv Eikon’s ...

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Refinery margin tracker: US poised to be net exporter of gasoline this summer

US refining margins trended higher last week, pulled up by refinery outages and lower gasoline stocks on the cusp of the summer driving season, an analysis by S&P Global Platts showed. In its most recent Summer Fuels Outlook, the EIA forecasts the US to be a net exporter of about 90,000 b/d of gasoline during the 2019 summer driving season. If this materializes as predicted, it would be the first time the US was a net gasoline exporter for a whole summer since 1960, the agency said. However, most recent ...

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