Asia / Pacific

Nirmala Sitharaman, Indian Finance Minister, urged India to concentrate on fuels and fertilisers and to save foreign exchange amid the Gulf Crisis. Modi called for Indians this month to save fuel, avoid buying gold, and take other austerity measures to manage the energy crisis and economic headwinds. Sitharaman stated that it was important for the Prime Minister to call on all countries to conserve their foreign currency as much as possible. She added that this should be considered when focusing on the 3Fs (fuel, fertilizer and foreign exchange). India is suffering from the effects of high crude oil prices and...

Dealers said that India's state-owned fuel retailers raised diesel prices by 2.71 rupees ($0.0283) and petrol by 2.61 rupees per litre, marking the fourth increase in a month to recover some losses caused by higher crude oil costs as a result of the Iran War. Indian state fuel retailers who control 90% of the Indian market began increasing pump prices on May 15, after elections were completed in certain key states. Since then, the state companies have increased?the price of petrol and diesel by approximately 7.8% and 8.6% respectively. New Delhi petrol will cost 102.12 rupees per litre, and diesel...

Indian state-owned fuel retail companies raised the price of 'petrol and diesel for the third time this month. Dealers said that the companies are attempting to recover losses caused by the inflated crude oil prices during the Iran War. Dealers said that the price of petrol in New Delhi would increase by 0.87 rupees, or just under one U.S. penny, to 99.51 rupees, and diesel prices would rise 0.91 rupees, or 0.92 rupees, to 92.49 Rupees per litre. India, which is the third largest?importer of oil and a consumer, was the last of the major economies to increase?retail fuel costs...

France has written a U.N. Security Council Resolution on setting up a international mission to restore?movement?in Strait of Hormuz?and You could submit it, if The conditions are "right",?the Foreign Ministry said on Friday as Washington struggled to put to a vote an anti-Tehran text that Russia and China might claim is biased. The control of the narrow waterway is a major obstacle to ending the U.S.-Iran conflict, which has lasted for three months. It's a vital artery in the global energy trade, and its virtual closure caused oil prices to skyrocket. The U.S. and Bahraini resolutions on the strait have...

Sources with knowledge of this matter said that a Qatari team was in Tehran Friday to "try to secure a deal" to end the "war" with Iran and to resolve outstanding issues. Doha had previously acted as a mediator for the Gaza War and other international conflicts, but it has now backed away from a role of mediation in the Iran War after being attacked by Iranian drones and missiles in the most recent conflict. The source added that "a Qatari team of negotiators is in Tehran this Friday" and that they had traveled in coordination with the United States....

Shiptracking data and three trade sources have confirmed that the first cargo of jet fuel from Northeast Asia to Europe has been shipped since the Iran war began at the end of February. Asian supplies are up, but European commercial stock levels remain low. Shiptracking data from Kpler and LSEG, as well as a fourth source, showed that around 745,000 barrels of aviation fuel from Yeosu, South Korea, were loaded onto the Seriana from May 1-6, and then transferred to Yuan Lan Wan, near the Strait of Malacca, on May 18-21. According to LSEG and two trade sources, the volumes...

The advisor to the president of the United Arab Emirates said that there is a 50-50 chance of a U.S. - Iran peace agreement. However, he stressed that any settlement should address the causes of instabilities in the region, if it's to prevent future conflict. Pakistan is mediating a U.S. - Iran ceasefire in order to end a war that has shaken 'the global economy, and disrupted the trade through the Strait of Hormuz. This route is a major one for oil and liquefied gas shipments around the world. "There is a 50% chance that we'll reach an agreement." Anwar...

Three trade sources familiar with the issue said that China will only see a small increase in refined fuel exports from May to June, because Beijing plans to maintain export restrictions for a fourth month in order to protect domestic supply. Two sources said that June exports were estimated to be around 550,000 metric tonnes or slightly more than expected, compared to about 500,000 tons in May. The two sources and another person said that state oil firms must now seek approval from the government on a regular basis for every shipment they export. This is because China, the world's...

Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia's president, said that he was not optimistic about the possibility of reaching an agreement over the Hungarian oil firm 'MOL's bid for a majority stake in NIS, operator of the Balkan country's only refinery. The deadline is Friday. Gazprom and Gazprom, two Russian oil companies, agreed to sell their majority 56% stake in NIS in January to?MOL after the United States demanded that Russian shares be divested due to sanctions imposed by the United States over Moscow's conflict in Ukraine. Washington has given MOL and the Russian companies until May 22th to complete the sale. This requires...

Hengli Group has been thrust in the middle of a geopolitical struggle. The group, which was built over 30 years by a husband and wife team from a failed textile mill to a Fortune Global 500 company and one of China’s largest private oil refiners is now a Fortune Global 500 firm. The United States imposed sanctions on its Hengli Petrochemical unit, which operates a 400,000 barrel per day refinery in Dalian (northeast China), for allegedly buying Iranian oil. Hengli, along with about 40 other shipping?firms? and vessels? were blacklisted as Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met and Washington was...

Analysts and traders alike predicted a market Armageddon if U.S. - Iran war continued and the Strait of Hormuz remained closed. Five weeks after the peace talks stalled and the strait remained largely closed, oil prices did not rise but instead fell to between $100-$110 per barrel. This fall was caused by several factors: Chinese refiners reduced refining and imports, and used crude oil from their tanks instead. The United States' refiners, traders and producers exported more fuel and oil to the global market to fill the supply gap from the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz was the route...

Danantara, the Indonesian sovereign fund, will honor existing export contracts while reviewing them to ensure that prices do not fall below market levels. This was announced by its chief executive on Thursday. The fund is preparing to take over the top commodity shipments of the country. The fund's chief executive said that a unit will be the sole exporter of ferroalloys, coal, and palm oil as soon as September 1. This is because the government wants to tighten control over the tax revenue and foreign exchange earned from commodities. Danantara CEO Rosan Roeslani stated that the sovereign wealth fund may...

Analysts said that China would export more refined zinc in 2026 than it imports, for the first time since four years. This is due to a growing supply of the metal and a weak domestic demand. China, which produced about half of the world's Zinc last year, is also a major zinc importer. The metal is mainly used for galvanising steel. Alice Fox, commodities analyst at Macquarie Group says that net refined zinc imports will be 209,767 tonnes this year compared to 428,890 tones in 2024. According to Fox, at home, new capacity is expected to be added this year,...

Prices of Chinese 'coking coal' soared to their highest level in nearly two weeks on Monday, after a series of strict safety checks were conducted at coal mines as a result of a fatal mine accident that occurred near a key production hub. This led to expectations of a tightening of supply. The gas explosion that occurred at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in northern Shanxi province late Friday night has claimed the lives of 82 people. This is the deadliest mining accident to have happened in China since 2009. Local officials announced at a Sunday 'news conference' that the mine...

Myanmar's military launched a renewed offensive into several border areas, including an area with rare earth deposits, and other important trade routes. This comes a month after the new administration officially took control of this?war-torn nation. Ye Win Oo is the new military chief who took over in March, after his longtime predecessor left to become president. He has been aggressively reclaiming strategic border strongholds that ethnic armies have taken control of in recent years. Recent military offensives focused on Kachin State - a region rich with heavy rare earth elements bordering China - as well as Chin State near...

Prices of Chinese coking coal soared to their highest level in almost two weeks on Monday, after a 'wave' of safety checks in coal mines in response to a fatal mine accident that occurred in a key production hub. This triggered expectations for a tightening in supply. The gas explosion that occurred at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in the northern province of Shanxi on Friday night has claimed the lives of 82 people. This is the deadliest mining accident to have happened in the country since 2009. Local officials announced at a Sunday news conference that the mine belongs to...

Copper prices rose Friday, as falling inventories overshadowed expectations of seasonal muted demand from China's top metals consumer and uncertainty about progress in U.S. Iran peace talks. In open-outcry official trading, the price of a metric ton of three-month 'copper' on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.6% to $13,599 per tonne. Copper stocks available in LME registered warehouses LME data daily showed that the price of crude oil fell to its lowest level in 10 weeks after 53 325 tons had been earmarked for shipment. COMEX traded at a higher price than the LME benchmark, as the market waited to...

Hindalco Industries, India, posted a surprise drop in profit for the'second consecutive quarter' on Friday. This was despite higher base metal prices. According to data compiled by LSEG, the Aditya Birla Group's firm reported a 50% drop in consolidated net profits for the?three-month period ended March 31. Analysts had expected a profit of 43.12 billion rupees. Hindalco is one of India’s largest?aluminium- and copper-producing companies. It benefited from higher base metal prices, and increased demand during the seasonally strong third quarter, when construction activity peaks and automotive companies are pushing to meet their production and sales targets by financial year...

According to a document reviewed by the Indian government, India's Ministry of Steel allegedly asked its Finance Ministry to remove anti-dumping duties on imports of low-ash metallurgical "coke". The ministry cited inadequate domestic supplies as well as higher prices. India, the second largest crude steel producer in the world, imposed an anti-dumping provisional duty on imports for six months of low-ash metalurgical coke, also known as metcoke. India imports met-coke primarily from China, Indonesian, Poland, Japan, and Switzerland. Industry experts claim that import volumes have dropped sharply after the curbs. In a memo dated 18 May, the steel ministry referred...

China has blocked Japan from obtaining several rare earths, heavy materials, and other minerals for at least four months. This coincides with a dispute over Taiwan between the two nations, indicating that Beijing is using its control of critical minerals to gain diplomatic leverage. Japan is the second largest producer of rare-earth magnets outside of China, but, like the rest of the globe, it is largely dependent on Beijing to import certain heavy rare earths, which are used in magnets, aerospace, and defence as well as gallium. Chinese customs data show that since December, Chinese exports to Japan of rare...

Iron ore prices began on a shaky footing?on Friday. They were poised to fall for a second consecutive week amid expectations?of rising supplies and a?seasonally weakened demand. However, resilient 'near-term' consumption in the top buyer China, curbed large losses. The Dalian Commodity Exchange's most traded iron ore contract closed the daytime trading down 0.13% to 792 yuan (116.51 dollars) per metric ton. This represents a 2.5% weekly drop. At 0700 GMT the benchmark June Iron Ore at the Singapore Exchange was 0.25% higher, $106.05 per ton. This represents a 2.8% decline so far this week. Earlier in the session, the?contract...

According to a document reviewed by, India's Ministry of Steel asked the Ministry of Finance to remove?anti-dumping duties on low-ash coke imports. They cited inadequate domestic supplies and higher prices. India, the second largest crude steel producer in the world, imposed an anti-dumping provisional duty on imports of low-ash metallurgical coal - also known as metcoke – for a period of six months. India imports met-coke primarily from China, Indonesian, Poland, Japan and Switzerland. Industry?experts claim that import volumes have dropped sharply since curbs were implemented. In a memo dated May 18, the Steel Ministry referred to anti-dumping duty acronyms...

This week, gold prices in India continued to be at a steep discount, due to price volatility, which dampened demand, while premiums in China were reduced. Dealers in India quoted discounts This week, you can save up to $78 per ounce on official domestic prices, including 15% import duty and 3% sales tax. That's a significant drop from the previous week when you could save up to $207 per ounce. Retail buyers are confused by the recent price fluctuations after the government increased import duty earlier in the month. "Most of them are waiting for the prices to come down,"...

The iron ore price started the week on a shaky footing, poised for a second consecutive weekly decline due to?prospects for rising supply and a seasonally weakening of demand. However, resilient near-term consumption by top buyer China, curbed large losses. By?0304?GMT the most traded iron ore contract at China's Dalian Commodity Exchange slipped 0.06% to 792.5 Yuan ($116.53), and was 2.4% lower so far this week. On the Singapore Exchange however, the benchmark June iron ore was 0.15% higher, at $105.95 per ton. This represents a 2.9% decline so far this week. The contract reached its lowest level since April...