Oil Through the Looking Glass 16/6/20

*Covid-19 vs Supply Cuts* The tussle between bearish and bullish news continues for crude. Coronavirus cases rose to more than 8 million worldwide yesterday, with infections surging in Latin America, while the United States and China are dealing with fresh outbreaks. On the supply side the UAE energy minister said that he had confidence OPEC+ …

Capesize moves up despite slight cooldown

Capesize rates moved up again on bullish market sentiments for both the Pacific and Atlantic basins. The Capesize 5 time charter average rose by $887 to $13,297 on Monday, reaching new highs for the prompt, while testing the recent highs on Q4 and Cal 21. The Baltic Dry Index also increased by 5.42% to 973 …

Iron ore futures fall as China steel demand slows, virus cases rise

Iron ore futures fell sharply on Monday on concerns over China’s recovery. Data released on Monday showed China churned out a record of 92.27 million tonnes of steel. According to SteelHome data, iron ore port inventories fell to 107.75 million tonnes last week, the lowest since October 2016.   While the decline in port inventories …

Capesize rates firm up in both basins

Capesize rates continued to rally as shipping demand improved in both the Pacific and Atlantic basins. Therefore, the Capesize 5 time charter average increased by $1,734 day-on-day to $12,410 on Friday, after strong afternoon session that pushed out of the tight trading seen in the morning session. This prompted the Baltic Dry Index to push …

Oil benchmarks fall on virus resurgence fears

Oil benchmarks fell about 8% last week, their first weekly declines since April, as U.S. Coronavirus cases started increasing.   Over the weekend, more than 25,000 new U.S. cases were reported on Saturday alone as more states reported record new infections and hospitalizations.   A cluster of infections in Beijing has increased concern of a …

Oil Through the Looking Glass 15/6/20

Continuation of the Crude Slump The week losses have extended into the new week as new virus infections hit China, Japan and the United States. This raises concerns of people in the market on the return of normal demand that had previously raised sentiment at the easing of lockdown. In the US the cutting of …

Oil Through the Looking Glass 12/6/20

Resurgence of the Virus The virus is making a comeback in the United States as the number of infections rose past the 2 million mark. This has focused minds in the market on the worry of a second wave which is pushing oil contracts to their first weekly decline in seven weeks. Asian Gasoil Cracks …