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An example is the trade in physical cargoes from the Middle East where Unipec, the trading arm of top Chinese refiner Sinopec, has been selling heavily this month. There are several reasons for this, including the output cuts implemented by OPEC+, which effect more Middle East grades than Brent and related light crudes. Asia is expected to import 29.12 million bpd in June, a third consecutive monthly gain and up from 26.47 million bpd in May, according to Refinitiv. China's imports are estimated at 12.5 million bpd, up slightly from May's 12.16 million, while India is forecast to receive 5.24 million bpd, up from 4.74 million bpd in May. Asia's imports from the United States are expected to reach a record high of 2.58 million bpd in June, up from 1.66 million bpd the prior month.

Persons: Unipec, refiners, BRENT, Brent, Stephen Coates Organizations: Unipec, Refinitiv Oil Research, Saudi Aramco, OPEC, Saudi, Aramco, refiners, Brent, . West Texas, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, Oman, Dubai, Middle East, Africa, Americas, Asia, Saudi, Brent, China, India, United States, Europe, North America

☆ Brands focus on stories in refining China livestreaming to boost profits
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Casey Hall | Thomson Reuters | Casey Has Reported On China'S Consumer Culture Her Base In Shanghai For More Than A Decade | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Livestreaming sessions by Chinese livestreamers Li Jiaqi and Viya, whose real name is Huang Wei, (L) are seen on Alibaba's e-commerce app Taobao displayed on mobile phones in this illustration picture taken December 14, 2021. Stellar growth boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic saw the industry employ more than 1.23 million livestream hosts by 2020, says researcher iResearch, along with numerous accompanying livestream-related training academies and agencies. While Tmall and Li Jiaqi remain powerful, brands moving away from that strategy are cutting reliance on massive discounts and even his famous exhortation, "Oh my god! Liu once thought her brand's price point of about 2,000 yuan ($277) for its dresses made it incompatible with bargain-heavy livestreaming. The dominance of pureplay sales platforms such as Alibaba's Tmall and Taobao, along with JD.com (9618.HK), is increasingly challenged by entertainment and information-led platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu.

Persons: Li Jiaqi, Huang Wei, Florence Lo, Apple's, William Lau, Clyde, iResearch, Jacob Cooke, Li, Liu, Hugo Boss, superhost Viya, Lexie Moris, Betty, Casey Hall, Miyoung Kim, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS, Apple Watch, HK, Tmall, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, Beijing, Asia, Pacific, Douyin

What BHP is touting is a process it calls credible and cost-effective, and it's these aims that are worth examining. BHP is the world's biggest miner of coking coal, used to make steel, and ranks third in iron ore, the main steel raw material. Diesel accounts for 76% of the emissions at the iron ore operations in Western Australia state, and 45% at the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance coking coal mines in the northeastern state of Queensland. BHP plans to switch its diesel trucks to battery-powered vehicles, but this will take some time and also involves more than just buying new equipment. The overall message from BHP is that it is advancing plans to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Persons: Clarence Fernandez Organizations: BHP Group, BHP, BHP Mitsubishi, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, Western Australia, Queensland

LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 26 (Reuters) - The extraordinary events in Russia this weekend made for dramatic headlines and the ramifications are likely far from over, but the immediate impact on global crude oil markets is likely to be limited. What is somewhat more certain is that there is no direct threat to Russia's crude oil industry and no reason to believe that shipments from the world's second-largest exporter of the fuel are in any danger. While there appears little imminent threat to Russia's exports of crude oil and refined products, the weekend unrest does raise concerns over the medium and longer terms. Russia's crude oil exports are expected to dip in June, but this is largely the impact of Moscow's earlier announcement of a voluntary 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) additional cut to output. But a wounded and weakened Putin is one more thing the global oil market now has to worry about.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, midmorning, Sonali Paul Organizations: Brent, Refinitiv Oil Research, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, Russia, Belarus, midmorning Sydney, OPEC, Moscow, Saudi Arabia

☆ Trump gets first GOP endorsements since his indictment in classified documents case
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Trump, the clear frontrunner in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, was also endorsed by North Carolina Lt. Gov. As if to drive home that point, the same crowd that cheered Robinson also loudly booed another GOP presidential candidate, former New Jersey Gov. Reschenthaler, the House Republican chief deputy whip, is the second member of the chamber's GOP leadership to endorse Trump after House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York. Ron DeSantis, Trump's nearest Republican primary competitor, has so far amassed five congressional endorsements. Polls of the GOP primary field showed Trump widening his lead after his first indictment.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Mark Robinson, Robinson, William Barr, Chris Christie, Christie, Mike Kelly, Dan Meuser, Scott Perry, Guy Reschenthaler, John Joyce, Reschenthaler, Elise Stefanik, Ron DeSantis, Fred Keller, Carla Sands, It's, Sen, Cindy Hyde, Smith, Andrew Clyde, Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Asa Hutchinson, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Roe, Wade, Scott, Pence, Trump's Organizations: U.S, GOP, Columbus Convention, Trade Center, White, Republicans, North, Gov, Trump, White House, Republican, Republican Party, New, New Jersey Gov, Pennsylvania Federal Leadership Team, Keystone State, House Republican, NBC, Florida Gov, CNN, South, Former United Nations, Arkansas Gov, Miami Mayor, Democratic Locations: Georgia, Columbus , Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey, Trump's, Washington ,, New York, Pennsylvania's, Denmark, Manhattan, Florida, South Carolina, Arkansas

LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 22 (Reuters) - Commodities had a mixed reaction to the latest stimulus measures aimed at boosting the Chinese economy's stuttering post-pandemic recovery. Still, iron ore imports have remained fairly steady in recent months. Commodity analysts Kpler estimated that arrivals in June would be in the order of 98.73 million metric tons, which would be slightly higher than the official customs figure for May of 96.17 million tons. OIL GAINSIn contrast to iron ore's lacklustre response to China's latest stimulus measures, crude oil and copper performed better. Asia's crude oil imports are expected to remain robust in June.

Persons: Lim Boon Heng, LPR, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Commodities, Xinhua, Brent, U.S, . Federal, Refinitiv Oil Research, Shanghai, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, Singapore, Beijing, China, May's, India, South Korea

LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 20 (Reuters) - Seaborne thermal coal prices in Asia have slumped to the lowest in two years as weakening demand in Europe and falling liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices outweigh strong demand in the top-importing region. Thermal coal imports for Asia, Europe vs Newcastle Index priceEUROPEAN INFLUENCEEurope is also having an impact on Asian seaborne thermal coal prices as demand in Europe drops, which in turn sees regional swing suppliers such as South Africa pivot back to Asia. However, Asia is on track to import nearly 4 million metric tons from South Africa in June, up from the 2.28 million that arrived in December. Asia's total imports of seaborne thermal coal are expected by Kpler to be 76.49 million metric tons in June, down from May's 80.01 million. It's clear that lack of demand isn't driving down Asian coal prices, rather it's cheaper spot LNG prices and the diversion of coal from Europe that are the main factors.

Persons: globalCOAL, It's, Kpler, Sonali Paul Organizations: Indonesia, LNG, Argus, Japan, Newcastle, Atlantic, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, Asia, Europe, China, India, Russian, Ukraine, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, South Africa, U.S, May's

LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 19 (Reuters) - China added to crude oil stockpiles at the fastest rate in nearly three years in May, as robust imports outweighed near-record refinery processing. This was up 15.4% from the same month in 2022, and was the second-highest monthly total, eclipsed only by the 14.91 million bpd from March. The volume of crude available to refiners was 16.37 million bpd, consisting of imports of 12.11 million bpd and domestic output of 4.26 million bpd. It's worth noting that for the first five months of 2023 China's crude oil imports are up 6.2% to the equivalent of 11.13 million bpd. If the flows into storage and the rise in product exports are factored in, suddenly the increase in China's crude oil imports doesn't look quite as bullish as it may first appear.

Persons: China doesn't, It's, Jamie Freed Organizations: National Bureau of Statistics, OPEC, Saudi Aramco, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, China, OPEC, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Saudi

The hope can be seen in the domestic iron ore price, with contracts on the Dalian Commodity Exchange outperforming Singapore futures. There are also some fundamental supports for the iron ore price, most noticeably declining inventories at China's ports. In the same week last year, inventories were at 128.3 million metric tonnes, or 1.6% above the current level. China iron ore imports vs SGX price:SOFT ECONOMIC DATACountering the positive indicators for iron ore demand is a raft of underwhelming economic data that shows China's rebound after ending its strict zero-COVID policy in December has been uneven. The weak data may actually boost iron ore sentiment, as investors will expect further stimulus measures from Beijing.

Persons: SteelHome, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Dalian, Exchange, China Iron and Steel Association, National Bureau of Statistics, Retail, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, China, Beijing, Singapore, Dalian, April's

The International Energy Agency's (IEA) medium-term oil market report, released on Wednesday, forecast that Asia, and particularly China, was the engine of crude oil and refined product demand growth up until 2028. The report highlights that this presents both opportunities and risks for the global oil and product markets. The main risk is that the world's reliance on China's exports of refined fuels increases, but China's exports aren't determined by market imperatives. The IEA said China had about 3 million barrels per day (bpd) of unused refining capacity at the beginning of 2023. The IEA said its forecast for global product balances over the 2022-28 period is "heavily dependent on higher Chinese product exports, especially for diesel".

Persons: Clyde Russell, Tom Hogue Organizations: Energy, Beijing, IEA, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, China, Asia, CHINA, Asia skyrocketing, Singapore, Russia, Ukraine

☆ US House resumes passing bills amid Republican infighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives returned to the job of legislating on Tuesday, after a week-long standoff between Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a small group of hardline Republican conservatives ended in a temporary truce. The firearms bill, brought by hardline conservative Representative Andrew Clyde, would repeal new firearms restrictions on "stabilizing braces," which functionally convert pistols into short-barreled rifles. The House then voted 248-180 to pass the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act, the first of two Republican gas stove bills that the House is considering this week. Lawmakers are also due to take up massive bills renewing U.S. military programs and setting American agriculture policy for the next few years. Reporting by David Morgan and Richard Cowan; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, Andrew Clyde, McCarthy, Joe Biden, Biden, Jim McGovern, David Morgan, Richard Cowan, Jonathan Oatis, Stephen Coates Organizations: U.S . House, Representatives, Republican, Gas, Protection, Product Safety, Democratic, Thomson

Another factor that several conference participants identified as vital is that the projects must have customers signed up before FIDs are made. GREEN METHANOLMethanol is shaping up as having the best potential for Tasmanian hydrogen projects, since it can be used to decarbonise shipping, one of the sectors deemed hardest to shift away from fossil fuels. Methanol in Tasmania would be made from combining green hydrogen with wood waste or wood chips. The state-owned grid operator, TasNetworks, needs to build some new transmission lines and refurbish others to meet the additional electricity requirements. And finally, some wind power projects need also to get to FID, with the 1,000-MW Bass Offshore Wind Energy project now looking set to be the first cab off the rank.

Persons: ABEL, Marinus Organizations: Tasmanian Energy Development Conference, FIDs, ABEL Energy, Hydro, Energy, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, Australia's, Tasmania, Devonport, Bell, Tasmanian, Hydro Tasmania, Victoria, FID

☆ Girls to the Front!
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Garance Franke-Ruta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The book is packed with stories of young women like her, girls whose efforts were documented but have not been popularized, and whose introductions leave you wanting more. After World War II came a generation of youthful reproductive rights activists. We meet Heather Tobis (later Booth), who, at 19, founded the legendary abortion referral service Jane out of her dorm room. She wanted change,” Kahn writes of the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, one of the most famous young voice of our own era. “Something to do; it might be very little but still it would be my own work.” Today, in the book’s words, stories of remarkable girls “abound.” But, as Kahn deftly shows, that’s been the story of these revolutionaries from the start.

Persons: Mabel Ping, Hua Lee, “, Joan of Arc, ” Anna Elizabeth Dickenson, Heather Tobis, Booth, Jane, Clyde Marie Perry, Emma Jean Wilson, IX, Faye Ordway, Alice de Rivera, miniskirts ”, Claudette Colvin, Rosa Parks —, —, ” Kahn, Greta Thunberg, ”, Lucy Lacrom, Kahn, that’s Organizations: New York, Representatives, Stuyvesant High School, Youth Locations: New, Grenada, Miss, Massachusetts, New York, Montgomery, Ala, Swedish, Lowell

These comments represent just one of the contradictions in the current oil market. The desire for a stable oil market is extremely difficult to reconcile with being unpredictable. But the risk is that the increase isn't sustained, largely as a result of another oil market contradiction. It's another contradiction for the oil market to resolve as those three exporters are all under some form of Western sanctions. It may well be the case that the second half of this year sees a huge pick-up in crude oil demand.

Persons: Prince Abdulaziz bin, Brent, Sonali Paul Organizations: Organization of, Petroleum, Saudi Energy, Brent, International Energy Agency, SECOND, Saudi Aramco, Aramco, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, Saudi, OPEC, Vienna, Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia

Weakness in China's manufacturing sector has been matched by soft outcomes in other important parts of the world's second-biggest economy. Rather it is construction and manufacturing that propel commodity demand, especially for steel raw material iron ore and for copper. The softness in those sectors is likely to show up in commodity imports in coming months, but not yet. Seaborne iron ore imports are expected at about 93.29 million tonnes, according to Refinitiv data, which would be stronger than the 90.44 million tonnes recorded by customs in April. If this is the case, it's likely that they may consider trimming imports in coming months, especially if the run of soft economic data continues.

Persons: it's, Robert Birsel Organizations: National Bureau of Statistics, Refinitiv Oil Research, Global, Brent, Singapore, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LAUNCESTON, Australia, China, March's

LAUNCESTON, Australia, May 30 (Reuters) - Asia's imports of seaborne thermal coal surged to the highest on record in May as cheaper prices tempted buyers in the region's developing economies. This is the most in Kpler data going back to January 2017, while Refinitiv data also shows record imports in May in data stretching back to January 2015. Rising thermal coal imports come as seaborne prices for the fuel continue to decline, with two of the more popular grades slipping to 16-month lows in the week to May 26. While lower prices and rising electricity demand are driving thermal coal imports in developing Asia, the advanced economies in north Asia are experiencing their usual seasonal lull between winter and summer peaks. Fourth-ranked South Korea will import 6.03 million tonnes in May, down from 6.70 million in April and 6.42 million in March.

LAUNCESTON, Australia, May 22 (Reuters) - The spot price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia is in the sweet spot of being low enough to boost buying interest, but not so low that it sparks a surge in demand. The decline in spot LNG prices has seen demand in key Asian importers hold steady, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler. The seasonal softness can be seen in Japan's May imports dropping to an expected 4.24 million tonnes from 5.0 million in April and 5.55 million in March. However, it's likely that the decline in spot prices will only boost demand from June onwards, and there are some early signs that this is already happening. The lower spot price in Asia is also working to boost buying interest in Europe, with May imports expected at 12.28 million tonnes, up a smidgeon from April's 12.27 million.

LAUNCESTON, Australia, May 19 (Reuters) - Chinese refiners dipped into crude oil inventories in April for the first time in 18 months, as high processing rates exceeded the volume of crude available from both imports and domestic output. The volume of crude available to refiners from imports and domestic output in April was 59.71 million tonnes, equivalent to 14.53 million bpd. For April, the total amount of crude available was 340,000 bpd below the volume processed by refiners, the first time since November 2021 that refiners have drawn on inventories. CRUDE IMPORTS RECOVEROn the crude import side the picture is more interesting, with April arrivals the lowest since January at 10.3 million bpd. For May, it seems likely that imports will recover, with Refinitiv Oil Research estimating arrivals of 11.83 million bpd, a jump of 1.53 million bpd from April's soft outcome.

Companies Woodside Energy Group Ltd FollowADELAIDE, May 17 (Reuters) - Australia's vast liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry is trying to pull off something that seems almost impossible. They want to lead the transition to clean and renewable energy, while at the same time continuing to invest in, and produce fossil fuels. For example, Woodside is spending some $12 billion to develop its Scarborough natural gas field off Western Australia's coast, and has another advanced LNG project with its Browse field. But the hydrogen projects are largely still at the early stages and even if all the permitting approvals are received, they will still take several years to get up and running. It's an industry-wide problem that projects take several years, and sometimes more than a decade to go from initial proposal to actual production.

SINGAPORE, May 11 (Reuters) - If the global energy transition is to be delivered in the coming decades, the mining industry believes there is one certainty. One thing most mining and energy transition analysts agree on is that there is currently insufficient copper production to meet anticipated demand as the world moves to electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies. If this is the case, the question is then why the future price of copper is relatively flat relative to the current price. It now takes an average of 23 years from discovery of a copper resource to a producing mine, according to data shown at the conference by Michael Langford, the executive director of consultants Airguide. The industry view is that many of the people demanding an energy transition the loudest are the very same people working hardest to make it virtually impossible to produce the necessary metals.

SINGAPORE, May 9 (Reuters) - China's imports of major commodities lost momentum in April as the strong start to the year faded amid uncertainty about the strength and composition of the recovery in the world's second-biggest economy. Crude imports were the lowest since January and the decline places a question mark over just how strong demand is in the world's largest oil importer. One factor worth noting is that China's exports of refined fuels also dropped sharply in April to 3.75 million tonnes, down 31.2% from 5.75 million tonnes in March. Part of the strength in China's crude imports in the first quarter was driven by a massive 59.8% surge in exports of refined fuels. Iron ore imports dropped to 90.44 million tonnes in April, down 9.8% from March but up 5.1% from April last year.

This was down from March's 27.6 million bpd, which in turn was lower than February's 29.4 million bpd and the 29.13 million bpd in January. Asia crude oil imports vs Brent priceINDIA SLOWS IMPORTSThis could extend to other major buyers in Asia, with the region's second-biggest importer India showing signs of moderating crude appetite in April. Imports were estimated at 4.60 million bpd in April, down from the eight-month high of 5.02 million bpd in March. Russian crude is also winning against Saudi oil in China, with April arrivals of 2.10 million bpd beating out the 1.73 million bpd from the Middle East's top exporter. The overall view on Asia's imports is that April showed a loss of momentum after a strong start to the year.

☆ Roundup: Giants pick up fifth-year option on LT Andrew Thomas
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 2 - The New York Giants exercised the fifth-year option for left tackle Andrew Thomas on Tuesday. Thomas has played in 45 games (44 starts) since being selected by the Giants with the fourth overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. The deadline to pick up fifth-year options is Tuesday. 27 overall pick in 2020, Brooks led the NFL with 109 solo tackles in 2021 and finished sixth with 161 total tackles in 2022. --The Kansas City Chiefs are declining the fifth-year option for running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, multiple outlets reported.

To be sure, China's imports of thermal coal from Australia, the world's second-biggest coal exporter, still lag well behind the 19.29 million tonnes in April from top supplier Indonesia. Australian thermal coal also tends to head to southern ports, but the grade most often imported by China has a higher energy content than those from Indonesia, meaning Australian fuel tends to compete directly with local supplies. China and India imports of Australian thermal coalINDIA SWITCHES TO SOUTH AFRICAWhile China has been snapping up Australian thermal coal, volumes being shipped to India, the world's second-largest importer, have been slipping. India's total imports of thermal coal are expected to rise to 14.77 million tonnes in April, with Indonesia taking the lion's share at 9.66 million tonnes. As Australian thermal coal has left India's import mix, imports from rivals such as South Africa have moved higher.

India's crude imports from Russia are expected to reach a record high in April as Asia's second-biggest oil buyer increasingly turns away from its traditional suppliers in the Middle East. As Russian oil was increasingly sanctioned and shunned by European buyers and some in Asia, such as Japan, the steep discounts on offer led to India's refiners buying increasing volumes. The Middle East's share of India's imports likely dropped to 39.8% in April, according to Refinitiv, down from the 12-month average of 56%. While the buying of Russian crude is fairly broad-based among India's refiners, the biggest buyer is Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), which operates a 1.24 million bpd refinery complex in Jamnagar. Kpler data shows that this complex is expected to receive 20.87 million barrels of Russian crude in April, or about 30% of the total volume of India's imports.

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