House Set to Back China Sanctions Amid Rising Tensions With U.S

The House of Representatives is poised to give final passage Wednesday to legislation that would sanction Chinese officials for human rights abuses against Muslim minorities, the latest in a series of moves by Congress and the White House to put pressure on the Beijing government. The measure was approved by unanimous consent in the Senate …

U.S. Mulls Sanctions on Chinese Officials, Firms Over Hong Kong

The U.S. is considering a range of sanctions to punish China for its crackdown on Hong Kong, people familiar with the matter said, as the Trump administration weighs whether to declare the former colony has lost its autonomy from Beijing. The Treasury Department could impose controls on transactions and freeze assets of Chinese officials and …

Crude buoyed by Russia cuts, gasoil spreads flat

The crude market was buoyed by comments from Russia reporting its oil output had nearly dropped to its target of 8.5 million barrels per day (bpd) for May and June under its supply cut deal with OPEC.   After a bank holiday yesterday and quiet trading, counterparties have come into the market this morning with …

Shale production tumbles as VLCC armada heads east

Oil production from the top seven shale regions in the U.S. is set to tumble to levels not seen since 2018 as drillers scale back in response to the recent price collapse, the Energy Information Administration said. Crude output from seven major shale formations expected to fall by a record 197,000 barrels per day in …

Commodities Bounce Back on Chinese Stimulus Anticipation and Vaccine Hopes

Freight prices jumped on Monday with front month Capesize futures up over 10% on anticipation of a large stimulus package out of China later this week. This created a knock-on effect into the smaller vessels with the Panamax front month futures up over 5%. Oil futures performed well with a USD 3.00 move higher, as …

China Home-Price Growth Accelerates in Property Market Boost

China’s house-price growth accelerated in April as the central bank’s credit easing gave the property market a much-needed lift out of the coronavirus shutdown. * New-home prices in 70 major cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, gained 0.42% in April, National Bureau of Statistics data released Monday showed. That’s up from a 0.13% increase in March. * …

China’s Industrial Economy Improves While Consumers Remain Wary

China’s industrial output increased in April for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak, adding to early signs of a recovery that economists cautioned would be slow and challenging. Industrial output rose 3.9% from a year earlier, reversing a drop of 1.1% in March, data showed Friday. Fixed-asset investment decreased 10.3% in the first four …

Saudi Loss of China Oil Market Share Likely Brief, Say Analysts

Saudi Arabia’s loss of oil market share in China last month to Russia and Iraq is likely to be fleeting, with analysts saying shipments from the kingdom to Asia’s largest economy are rebounding in May. Saudi crude exports to China could more than double to 10 million tons this month from April, according to ship-tracking …

Recovery Quickens as PBOC Vows Support

Recovery Quickens as PBOC Vows Support Chinese industrial commodities began the week on the front foot after the central bank pledged more powerful policies to combat the coronavirus’s hammer blow to growth. The evidence of the past few days, from shrinking crude and metals stockpiles, to the rebound in car sales and usage, suggest that …