US corn shipments to China in June surpassed the total volume of US corn exported to the Asian nation during the entire 2018-19 marketing season (September-August), indicating China continues to show intentions to fulfill its commitments under the multi-billion dollar Phase 1 trade deal. The US shipped 273,646 mt of corn to China in June, more than double the shipments in the same period a year ago, according to data from the US Census Bureau released Aug. 5. The US has shipped 464,263 mt of corn to China so far ...

Singapore’s residual fuel oil inventories climbed 3% in the week to Aug. 5 as export volumes plummeted to a near four-month low, official data showed on Thursday. Onshore fuel oil stocks rose 642,000 barrels, or about 101,000 tonnes, to a three-week high of 24.234 million barrels, or 3.816 million tonnes, according to Enterprise Singapore data. Residual fuel stocks were up 11% from a year earlier. Net import volumes were up 96% from the previous week to a five-month high of 1.412 million tonnes, well above the 2020 weekly average of ...

Vietnam spent more than 4.8 billion U.S. dollars importing over 8.3 million tons of steel and iron in the first seven months of this year, down 14.1 percent in value and 0.8 percent in volume against the same period last year. The major markets supplying steel and iron to Vietnam in the period included China, Japan and South Korea, according to the Vietnam Steel Association on Thursday. In July alone, the country imported 1.6 million tons of the products worth 818 million U.S. dollars, up 30.9 percent in volume and ...

Egypt’s state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC,) on Wednesday received offers for wheat in an international purchase tender with two shipment periods in September, traders said. GASC said it was seeking an unspecified quantity of wheat for shipment Sept. 11-20 and Sept 21-30 with payment using a 180-day credit facility. The lowest offer presented was by Solaris at $212.10 for 60,000 tonnes of Russian grain for either shipment period. No purchase has yet been made and the tender results are expected later on Wednesday. Source: Reuters ...

The United States sent a shipment of crude to Saudi Arabia in June, data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed on Wednesday, in what appears to be the first such delivery since the U.S. ban on crude exports ended in 2015. The United States shipped about 550,000 barrels, or 18,300 barrels per day (bpd), of crude to Saudi Arabia in June, U.S. Census data shows. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has no recorded instances of a U.S. crude shipment to Saudi Arabia. U.S. Census data shows a miniscule 1,000-barrel shipment ...

Saudis staying home for vacation because of the COVID-19 pandemic are helping to boost demand for gasoline in Fujairah, where motor fuel exports jumped to a two-year high in July, according to cargo-tracking company Kpler. Gasoline exports from the UAE’s east coast port averaged 192,000 b/d in July, the most since May 2018, Kpler data show. Shipments to Saudi Arabia hit a three-year high in June at 50,000 b/d and were still at 30,000 b/d in July. Pakistan, Iraq and South Africa were also big buyers in July. Aramco Trading ...

U.S. crude oil imports increased while exports decreased during the week ending July 31, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday. U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.0 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by 864,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged about 2.8 million b/d, down by about 392,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 5.7 million b/d, down by 1.2 million b/d year on year, while ...

Bangladesh expects to import its first LNG cargo from the spot market around Sept. 15-20 with a vessel carrying 138,000 cu m of lean LNG, managing director of state-run Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited Md Kamruzzaman told S&P Global Platts Aug. 4. He said RPGCL had already shortlisted 14 global companies for spot supplies. “As this will be our first import of LNG from the spot market, we are careful with all the relevant procedures and pricing,” he added. The Bangladesh government had earlier constituted several committees to ensure a ...

U.S. natural gas futures on Tuesday edged up to their highest since January as liquefied natural gas exports surge higher and on forecasts the weather will remain hot through late August after Hurricane Isaias blows through, keeping air conditioners humming. Front-month gas futures rose 3.9 cents, or 1.9%, to $2.140 per million British thermal units at 8:37 a.m. EDT (1237 GMT), putting the contract on track for its highest close since Jan. 14. That puts the contract into overbought territory with a Relative Strength Index (RSI) over 70 for a ...

India’s jet fuel exports which dropped almost 60% in June from a year earlier are expected to keep falling at least through August as refineries undergo maintenance and global demand weakens, market participants and analysts said. Now India and the rest of South Asia will have refinery outages totaling 1.775 million b/d in August, with 1.425 million b/d of run cuts due to the COVID-19 impact on demand, S&P Global Platts Analytics said in a Aug. 3 report. India refineries ran at 4.5 million b/d in June to meet increased ...

Lebanon’s economy minister, Raoul Nehme, told local media on Tuesday that the wheat in Beirut’s port granaries can not be used and that the ministry lost track of seven employees in the granaries. The minister also told local media that Lebanon will import wheat and added that the country currently has enough wheat until they begin importing it. A huge explosion in port warehouses near central Beirut killed more than 50 people, injured over 2,750 and sent shockwaves that shattered windows, smashed masonry and shook the ground across the Lebanese ...

It appears to be a case of one step forward, one step back for Asia’s seaborne coal exporters in July, with signs of a tentative recovery in Indian imports, but a drop in those by China. The bulk of the weakness so far this year in Asia’s seaborne markets for both thermal and coking coal has been in India, the world’s second-biggest importer, where demand has been hit by the economic lockdowns enforced in efforts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. India’s imports of both types of coal ...

Japan’s largest refiner, ENEOS, is importing a rare gasoline cargo from the UAE’s Emirates National Oil Company, sources say, underlining a trend among Japanese refiners to rely more on product imports to meet demand while keeping domestic run rates low. ENOC sold a gasoline cargo on the tanker Chang Hang Guang Rong to ENEOS on a CFR basis, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told S&P Global Platts August 4. ENEOS is scheduled to receive the tanker at Negishi in Yokohama, Tokyo Bay on August 7, according to ...

Dachser USA, a subsidiary of global logistics provider Dachser, announced today that, in collaboration with Dachser Mexico and Dachser Brazil, 138 tons of oversized automotive manufacturing machinery were successfully transported from Jundai, Brazil to Silao, Mexico. Dachser USA was introduced to this highly complex project when its customer, a top-tier automotive supplier, approached them with “Are you up for a challenge?” “As an innovative logistics solutions provider, Dachser regularly guides our customers through complex logistics challenges, including those that require a collaboration with our global Dachser partners. But there are ...

This Spotlight from S&P Global Platts Analytics was first published July 27. The OPEC+ cuts have constrained the global supply of sour crude, as the largest production curtailments have come from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Middle Eastern countries. European refineries have seen lower monthly allocations as a result. Simultaneously, Russia’s July export schedule for Urals crude showed daily loadings at 780,000 b/d, the lowest volume since at least 2012, reflecting the extension of Russia’s commitment to the OPEC+ cuts. As a result, Urals cargoes in Northwest Europe in late ...