Russian fuel oil exports rose 21% on the year to 2.476 million mt, according to data released Friday by the Central Dispatching Unit of the Russian Energy Ministry. The rise in exports was down to weak domestic demand and river navigation, a major outlet for fuel oil exports, opening earlier this year following a mild winter. Exports were down 12% on the month, partly due to April being a shorter month. Exports were also affected by lower throughput at Russian refineries which carried out planned maintenance, but also cut runs ...

Below-normal exports of Canadian gas to the US Pacific Northwest and Midwest are likely to continue well into June as AECO basis continues to strengthen and incentivize storage injections in Alberta, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. Exports to the US Pacific Northwest through Kingsgate have run under capacity this summer. While the market was previously expecting these flows to pick up by June, sentiments are now skewing toward this underutilization continuing throughout the month. Exports at Kingsgate have averaged 2.1 Bcf/d since May 5, according to Platts Analytics. Some ...

From June 1 China’s customs authority will end mandatory inspections of iron ore imports, which will only be examined at the request of importers or traders. The decision will “streamline quality inspections of imported iron ore,” said China’s General Administration of Customs in a notice announcing the change Wednesday. But the new rules give discretion to authorities to conduct toxic element checks “when necessary.” Tell me more: The revision comes as tensions rise between China and Australia, which shipped almost two-thirds of China’s iron ore imports last year, and were ...

Brazil’s May soybean shipments are unlikely to record export levels seen in April, with vessels carrying about 14.3 million mt of beans either already having sailed or lined up to leave the ports during this month, data from shipping agency Williams showed. Brazil exported 16.5 million mt of soybeans in April, a monthly record, and the pace of exports in May is continuing to accelerate, according to data from the country’s foreign trade ministry. Despite a growing number of positive novel coronavirus tests in Brazil, port operations have remained normal ...

Rumours of a ban on Australian thermal coal to China have surfaced in the thermal coal market this week. In an NDRC meeting last week, Five major state-owned utilities were said to have been directed to stop buying new cargoes of Australian thermal coal from 15 May. The restriction is targeted at stemming the flow of surging imports into China, in a bid to boost domestic prices. Chinese imports this year are annualising almost 75 million tonnes higher than last year. Wood Mackenzie principal analyst Rory Simington said: “While there ...

Seven liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes that loaded from the United States are expected to be delivered into China in May, the highest number of cargoes for this route since January 2018, shiptracking data from Refinitiv and Kpler showed. In April, only three U.S. LNG cargoes were shipped to China, the data also showed. Four of the cargoes for May have already discharged their load into terminals in Jiangsu and Guangdong, one is currently discharging at Tianjin, and two others are on their way to Hainan and Tianjin, Refinitiv data ...

There is government concern coal exporters could be the latest victim of Australia’s trade war with China as the issue creates disunity in Labor ranks. The Chinese government is reportedly warning state-owned power plants not to buy new shipments of Australian thermal coal and instead favour domestic products. Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told reporters in Canberra on Friday the trade minister and diplomats were working to fix the issues. While he acknowledged the government was concerned, he said China needed Australia as much as we needed our largest trading ...

The drama has a familiar rhythm. An obscure official diktat is penned in Beijing. Then it ripples out through the world, frenetically shared by exporters, analysts, journalists and diplomats, before rapidly making the leap to newswires and websites in Australia. An email lands in your inbox, or a headline flashes up on a television screen. And then the phone calls flow, and the guessing games begin. Over the past couple of weeks, China’s Government has passed a seemingly endless string of new regulations which have hit Australian exporters. The pace ...

About 45 LNG cargoes scheduled to be loaded in July at US export terminals were said to have been canceled by customers — at least half of them tied to Cheniere Energy’s two Gulf Coast facilities, according to market sources. The moves reported Thursday reflect the depth of global demand destruction exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, with Asian and European buyers fleeing US supplies as summer approaches. Feedgas flows to US liquefaction facilities fell this week to the lowest level since October 2019. The July cancellations, roughly double what was ...

India’s crude oil imports in April recorded their biggest year-on-year fall in 10 months as coronavirus-induced lockdown restrictions halted economic activity and sapped demand. Crude oil imports in April fell 12.4% to 17.28 million tonnes from a year earlier, its steepest decline since June 2019, data on the website of Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell said. Oil product imports also dropped 6.5% to 3.35 million tonnes, their first year-on-year decline in 16 months. But exports of refined products had their biggest rise year-on-year since October 2016 because of a slowdown ...

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack is concerned coal exporters could face a tougher time selling the commodity into China. The Chinese government is reportedly warning state-owned power plants not to buy new shipments of Australian thermal coal and instead favour domestic products. Mr McCormack said Trade Minister Simon Birmingham and diplomats were attempting to fix the issue. “Of course we’re very concerned by it,” he told the ABC on Friday. “But we have a two-way relationship with China. China needs Australia as much as Australia needs China and we want ...

Australian iron ore could be the next victim of trade tensions with China after Beijing changed its inspection rules. Chinese customs officials say the changes taking effect next month are designed to “streamline procedures” at ports. But the Global Times has warned Australian iron ore imports could be hurt by political tensions between the two countries. “This is another implicit warning to Australia,” Yu Lei, a chief research fellow at Liaocheng University, told the newspaper. “It is associated with how Australia has acted, and a general decline in demand for ...

Rally in SHFE prices boost China’s aluminum imports: sources China’s primary aluminum prices extended gains on the back of improved sentiment in the base metals market and strong demand, which opened the arbitrage window for the country to import, sources told S&P Global Platts this week. Shanghai Futures Exchange’s most active aluminum futures contract advanced for a sixth straight day to Yuan 12,875/mt ($1,812/mt) Wednesday, the highest since March 12. The contract rose Yuan 25/mt, or 0.2% on the day, and by Yuan 1530/mt, or 13.5%, compared to Yuan 11,345/mt ...

Jordan’s state grain buyer the trade ministry is tendering to buy 120,000 tonnes of milling wheat which can be sourced from optional origins, European traders said on Friday. The tender closes on May 28. Shipment is sought in a series of possible combinations in 60,000 tonne consignments in October and November. Possible shipment periods are Oct. 1-15, Oct. 16-31, Nov. 1-15 and Nov. 16-30. A new tender had been expected after Jordan made no purchase in a previous tender for 120,000 tonnes of wheat on May 19. In the past ...

Gail (India) has issued a tender offering two liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for loading in the United States, and is seeking a cargo for delivery into India, two industry sources said on Friday. It offered two cargoes to load from the Cove Point plant in the U.S. on a free-on-board (FOB) basis loading in late-June and July, they said. It is also seeking a cargo for delivery into India, in May or August 2021, on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis, they added. The tender closes on May 27, one ...