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Asian importers are hoping for some normalcy to oil trade flows from Iran, as the country’s new reformist president pushes for a broader thaw in Tehran’s relations with the West by reviving the nuclear deal and easing sanctions, according to analysts and traders. While the appointment of reformist politician Masoud Pezeshkian as Iran’s president may not immediately change Washington’s policy on the issue, Asian crude buyers are glimpsing light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the sanctions. “Oil policy changes under the new regime will be ...

Asian wheat buyers have stepped up purchases in recent weeks, taking cargoes from the Black Sea region as they returned to the market after a long gap, drawn by a fall in global prices to their lowest in four months. Regional millers producing flour and animal feed have signed deals to buy close to one million metric tons of wheat to be shipped from Bulgaria, Russia, Romania and Ukraine, during August to September, according to two Singapore-based traders. “Millers have been active, we have seen good demand as prices have ...

Brazilian miner Vale SA expressed confidence that it would reach the high-end of its 2024 guidance for iron ore production after output increased in the second-quarter. The company, one of the world’s largest iron-ore miners, said in its quarterly sales and output report that production of the steel-making ingredient in the three-month period to the end of June rose 2.4% from a year earlier to 80.6 million metric tons. “This quarter’s performance reinforces our confidence in achieving the upper end of the 2024 production guidance”, Vale said. The firm expects ...

Chicago wheat futures gained more ground on Thursday, buoyed by rising demand from importers, after the market hit a more than four-month low earlier this week. Corn and soybeans slid on pressure from favourable crop weather in the U.S. Midwest. “There has been some international business for wheat which is supporting prices,” a grains broker in Singapore. “The wheat has been over sold, so a recovery in prices is likely.” The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 added 0.5% to $5.42 a bushel, as of ...

Oil prices extended gains on Thursday, buoyed by a bigger than expected decline in crude stocks in the United States, the world’s largest oil consumer. Brent futures rose 41 cents, or 0.5%, to $85.49 a barrel by 0819 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 69 cents, or 0.8%, at $83.54, with both having registered gains in the previous session. U.S. crude inventories fell by 4.9 million barrels last week, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday. That exceeds a decline of 30,000 barrels ...

The amount of natural gas flowing to U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants was on track to drop to a 12-week low on Wednesday due to reductions at several plants, including Freeport LNG in Texas, according to data from financial firm LSEG. For years, LNG feedgas has been the fastest growing source of new U.S. gas demand and the shutdown of any export plant, especially Freeport, can sway gas prices around the world. On Monday, U.S. gas futures NGc1 fell about 7% to a 10-week low after it became ...

Europe’s traders were trying to pull stock markets out of tech-led tumble on Thursday, as attention turned to whether the European Central Bank would signal September is its next likely point to cut interest rates. It was already a busy day. Japan’s yen had scaled a six-week high amid speculation of an sustained intervention, while the equity markets were still shaky after chipmaker tariff worries gave the Nasdaq its worst day since December 2022 on Wednesday. Bond markets were broadly steady and at $1.0930 the euro was holding near a ...

USD: Many cross currents, but the dollar is lower The DXY has fallen just over 2% this month and is now back to its lowest levels since March. Is that down to a powerful rebound in overseas economies sucking capital out of the US? The clear answer to that is no. The primary reason looks to be follow-through dollar selling on the back of the recent disinflationary US price data and the 20bp drop in US short-dated rates this month. On that subject, one of our preferred Fed communicators, Christopher ...

Japan’s yen scaled a six-week high on Thursday, stirring up speculation of an official push, while traders waited on a European Central Bank meeting to direct the euro’s next move. The single European currency held near four-month highs ahead of the ECB’s decision, which is all but certain to result in no change to monetary policy, leaving traders to focus on what the chances of a September rate cut might be. “We expect the ECB to emphasise that future interest rate cuts will be dependent on further declines in inflation ...

The European Central Bank is all but certain to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday while signalling that its next move is still set to be a cut, even if this guidance is likely to be vague and carry caveats. The ECB lowered rates from record highs last month in a move even some policymakers considered rushed and the bank is likely to be more cautious about a follow up step, given stubbornly high domestic inflation and wage growth. In what is seen by many as a placeholder meeting, ECB ...

Trade ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies said they would use their “trade tools” if needed to counter practices that distort the market, in a statement that hardened language compared with a previous communique. The G7 ministers met in southern Italy after the European Union imposed tariffsthis month on imports of electric vehicles made in China to try to protect the 27-nation bloc’s motor industry from Chinese EVs that the EU says are heavily subsidised. “We will continue to tackle non-market policies and practices, as well as ...

The World Trade Organization said that it was unable to get a clear picture of China’s financial support for key industrial sectors, such as electric vehicles or aluminium and steel production due to an “overall lack of transparency”. The WTO noted that the world’s second-largest economy gave financial support and other incentives to industries over the 2021-2024 review period but said that Beijing did not provide enough information for the WTO to have a clear picture of the programmes. “The overall lack of transparency on China’s government support may also ...

Chinese leaders will have no illusion on the challenges they have to tackle in the second half and beyond. As some 370 top-level Communist Party officials gathered on Monday for the five-yearly Third Plenum meeting, surprisingly weak GDP data released on the same day raises the stakes for the policy roadmap they will outline. The economy logged a lacklustre 4.7% year-on- year growth in the second quarter. Economists were expecting a less rosy print following the 6.3% in the same quarter a year earlier, and the 5.3% result in the ...

India increased its purchases of Russia’s Far East ESPO Blend oil for June and July arrival as China, a key buyer of the grade, bought less, two sources involved in the Russian oil trade said and LSEG data showed. India’s imports of Russian ESPO Blend rose to some 500,000 metric tons (123,000 barrels per day) in June and are expected to surpass 700,000 tons this month, according to the sources and the data. This is a significant rise from the 100,000-200,000 tons of the grade India has been purchasing monthly ...

The TWIN-PORT VI project has received a funding decision from the EU. The four-year project is a continuation of the long-term cooperation between ports of Tallinn and Helsinki, aiming to reduce transport system emissions and to improve conditions for passenger and freight transport operations. AS Tallinna Sadam (hereinafter: Tallinna Sadam) focuses on environmental impacts in the project and plans to build on-shore power systems in Muuga Harbour so that ro-ro and container vessels can use electricity from the shore power grid. The Port of Helsinki aims to develop the Vuosaari ...