Asia / Pacific

The Ukrainian military reported that Ukrainian forces attacked and destroyed an oil depot located in the southern Rostov region of Russia, which was used to supply Russian troops in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces announced that the military’s special operations units in conjunction with rocket and artillery forces had struck the Atlas plant in Rostov Region, not far away from Ukraine’s eastern border. In a Telegram statement, the General Staff confirmed that "our forces have struck in the area where the target is located." "A fire was observed." "The results of the...

Five trading sources said that Egypt wants to buy more fuel oil in order to meet its electricity generation needs. Fuel oil has been purchased in greater quantities by the country this year to ease a gas shortage that resulted from the loss of gas pipelines connecting Israel and Egypt. According to trading sources, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation is looking for about 900,000.0 metric tons (tonnage) of fuel oil in its latest tender. One source said that the tender will be closed on July 2, and valid until July 10. The Egyptian Petroleum Ministry didn't immediately respond to an...

Igor Sechin said that the OPEC+ group, which includes major oil producers around the world, could accelerate its production increases by a year compared to their initial plan. He said the decision of OPEC+ to increase output now looks far-sighted and justifiable in light of the conflict between Israel and Iran. In April, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia shocked the oil markets by agreeing to a larger-than-expected increase in output for May, despite low prices and a slowing of demand. OPEC+ decided to increase prices by more than originally planned. "The...

Igor Krasnov is the Russian Prosecutor-General, who led the government's effort to seize property valued at 2.4 trillion rubles ($31 billion). He said that foreign companies returning to Russia would be closely monitored to ensure Russia benefits. In the three years since Russia began its war in Ukraine, Moscow has taken over a dozen assets owned by foreigners under its management. This year, prosecutors have increased the seizure and confiscation of assets in Ukraine. As the economy slows down after two years of high growth, fueled by military spending, Russian officials try to strike a balance between protecting the economy...

The Russian state-owned energy, transport, and financial sectors are among those that will be privatised, said Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Friday as Moscow sought to raise money for the federal government budget. Moscow, shunned since the start of the Ukraine conflict by Western capital, has sought ways to increase domestic private investment and economic efficiency, as well as, ultimately, boost budget revenues, given that Russia is spending heavily on the war. Siluanov, at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, said on Friday, "It's a very delicate topic right now. But I can tell you that it's energy, finance and...

Israel claims it wants to prevent a nuclear catastrophe in the region, which is home to millions of people as well as producing much of the oil in the world. Israel's military announced that it had hit a Bushehr site on the Gulf Coast, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant. But later said the announcement was an error. Here are some details about the damage that Israel has caused and what experts have to say about the dangers of contamination and other disasters. What has Israel done so far? Israel has declared attacks on nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan...

Two vessel tracking companies said that Iran maintains crude oil supplies by loading tanks one at atime and moving floating storage closer to China. The country is trying to keep its main source of income while being attacked by Israel. The conflict that erupted between Iran and Israel last week is a new obstacle for Iran. It uses a fleet of shadow tankers to hide their origins and avoid U.S. sanctions imposed in 2018 due to its nuclear program. Iran is the third largest producer of crude oil in OPEC. Most of its exports go to China. The trackers reported...

Israel's Energy Minister Eli Cohen announced on Wednesday that the country will resume natural gas exports once its military deems it safe. The air battle between Israel & Iran is now in its sixth day. Since June 13, two of Israel's three natural gas fields, Leviathan operated by Chevron and Karish owned by Energean, off its Mediterranean coastline that provides the bulk of the exports to Egypt & Jordan have been closed. The older leaves are still in use Field used mostly for domestic supply. Cohen stated that he had been in touch with Egpyt, Jordan and Jordan regarding the...

Santos announced on Wednesday that it has progressed towards the final commissioning of its Barossa LNG Project following the arrival and deployment of a floating storage, production and offloading vessel (FPSO) at the Barossa Gas Field. The number two independent gas producer in Australia said that five of the six wells have been drilled. The final well is expected to be finished by the third quarter. In a press release, Australia's No. 2 independent gas producer stated that five wells of the six-well programme have been drilled. The final well is expected to be completed in the third quarter. Santos...

Reporters visiting the region found that U.S. troops have now withdrawn from two additional bases in northeastern Syria. This is part of a larger troop withdrawal, which, according to the commander of U.S. backed Syrian Kurdish Forces, has allowed a resurgence by Islamic State. Reporters who visited these two bases last week found that they were mostly deserted. They were both guarded only by a small number of Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish led military group Washington has supported in its fight against Islamic State since a decade. The razor wire that surrounded the perimeters of the bases occupied by...

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said that more pressure should be applied to Russia in order to secure a ceasefire. She urged G7 nations intensify sanctions to achieve this goal. The leaders of the largest industrial countries are meeting in Canada’s Rockies, along with European nations. They want to keep the conflict in Ukraine on the minds of U.S. president Donald Trump, despite the fighting between Israel and Iran taking place in the Middle East. The European Union has decided to adopt new sanctions against Russia. However, they have not been able to convince Trump, who...

Hong Kong's chief executive has said that the stock exchange will be attracting listed companies from Southeast Asia and Middle East for second listings, as it looks to improve its global reputation. Bonnie Chan, a spokesperson for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX), said that the number of mainland China listed companies seeking to list in Hong Kong in order to raise capital in order to fund their global expansions is also increasing. Chan, the first woman CEO of HKEX, said that they are now focusing on companies who have already been listed on other markets, but may have...

Iron ore futures ended a three-day rally Tuesday, despite a stronger outlook for supply from Australia's top producer. However, the resilient steel demand in China helped to cushion the fall. The September contract for iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange ended the daytime trading 0.42% lower, at 703 Yuan ($97.97). As of 0725 GMT, the benchmark July Iron Ore traded on Singapore Exchange fell 0.71% to $93 per ton. Rio Tinto, world's biggest iron ore producer enters a joint venture to develop the Hope Downs 2 Project in Western Australia. Rio announced in a press release that the two...

Andy Russick sells cans of fruit and tomatoes to major U.S. supermarkets, such as Kroger, and hospitals and schools. He shares the stated goal behind U.S. president Donald Trump's war on trade - combating cheap Chinese imports. When U.S. tariffs were doubled on steel and aluminum imports to 50%, on June 4, Andy Russick's company, Pacific Coast Producers, was collateral damage. Since 2017, Chinese fruit cocktail, vegetables, and other canned food imports from Southeast Asia and Europe are flooding U.S. grocery shelves, undercutting comparable products made in the United States. Russick stated that this trend will accelerate due to the...

Gold prices dropped to their lowest level in nearly two weeks on Tuesday, as risk appetite increased after U.S. president Donald Trump announced that Iran and Israel agreed to a truce. This lowered demand for safe haven assets. As of 0257 GMT spot gold fell 0.5% to $3351.47 per ounce after reaching its lowest level since the 11th of June earlier in session. U.S. Gold Futures fell 0.9% to $3365.30. Ilya Spirak, the head of global macro for Tastylive, said: "It appears that there is a lot of geopolitical risks leaving the market in the near-term after we've seen signs...

Aluminum prices rose to a three-month high on Monday, as U.S. strikes on Iran's nuke facilities raised the possibility of higher energy costs and disruptions in shipments from the Middle East. In some areas, energy can account for 40-45% or more of the costs associated with aluminium smelting. Investors' fears about an escalation of conflict in the Middle East and disruption to oil supplies increased after President Donald Trump said that the U.S. would attack other targets without a peace agreement with Israel. Benchmark aluminium rose 0.5% to $2,561 per metric tonne by 0916 GMT, after reaching its highest level...

Investors were anxiously waiting to see if Iran would respond to U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites. The price of oil has risen to its highest level since January, as supply fears were stoked by the United States joining Israel to attack Iran's nuclear sites. The market participants are expecting further price increases amid growing fears that a retaliatory move by Iran could include the closing of the Strait of Hormuz through which approximately a fifth of world crude oil supply passes. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index rose 0.7%. Al Rajhi Bank gained 0.6%, and Saudi Arabian Mining Company added...

On Monday, the most traded aluminium contract at the London Metal Exchange beat copper as U.S. attacks on Iranian military sites pushed up energy costs - an important cost factor for this energy-intensive metal. By 0700 GMT, the LME 3-month aluminium contract had risen 0.82% to $2,570.5 a metric tonne. After an initial rise, the most traded aluminium contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.24%. It now stands at 20,365 yuan (US$2,833.79) per ton. Comparatively, LME copper increased 0.07% at $9,640, while SHFE copper rose by 0.14% to 78,290 Yuan. Aluminum is more sensitive to energy prices and has...

Dalian iron-ore futures reached their highest level in over a week Monday, boosted by improved short-term prospects for the steelmaking component in China's top consumer. The daytime trading price of the most traded September iron ore contract at China's Dalian Commodity Exchange was 706 yuan (98.25 dollars) per metric ton. In the morning session, the prices reached 709.5 yuan - their highest level since June 13. As of 0717 GMT, the benchmark July iron ore traded on Singapore Exchange was up 0.36% at $93.85 per ton. According to Chinese consultancy Mysteel, hot metal production, which is a measure of iron...

The price of cobalt in the top consumer China rose to a three-month high Monday as the Democratic Republic of Congo extended its export ban, rekindling supply concerns. Congo, world's largest cobalt producer, has extended its ban for another three months, after having imposed a four month restriction in February, to reduce the oversupply of this material used in electric vehicle batteries. The cobalt futures contract with the most activity on China's Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange rose more than 9%, reaching its highest level since March 14, at 254 yuan (US$35.34) a kilogram. Analysts at Guosen Metal stated that "the...

Investors were cautious as they watched the conflict between Israel and Iran. Israel attacked nuclear targets in Iran on Thursday. Iran then fired missiles and drones into Israel, after an Israeli hospital was hit overnight. U.S. president Donald Trump said he would make a decision on Israel's behalf within the next two week. As of 0103 GMT the most traded copper contract on Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 0.6% at 77,990 Yuan ($10,855.31) a metric ton. This is a 0.3% drop on the previous week. Three-month copper prices on London Metal Exchange were down 0.5%, to $9,571 per ton. Copper...

Gold prices dropped on Friday, and are on course for a weekly drop as a stronger dollar and the prospect that the U.S. will not be cutting interest rates in the near future offset the support provided by the rising geopolitical risk in the Middle East. As of 0245 GMT on Friday, spot gold was down 0.5% at $3,355.49 per ounce and 2.2% over the past week. U.S. Gold Futures fell 1% to $3371.80. Kelvin Wong is a senior analyst at OANDA. He said that the Middle East has a fluid situation, which causes traders to avoid taking aggressive positions...

On Friday, the most traded copper contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SFE) and London Metals Exchange (LME) were in a range as the market sentiment was mixed due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Israel-Iran dispute. Israel bombed Iranian nuclear targets on Thursday, and Iran fired missiles or drones towards Israel after it hit an Israeli hospital over night. U.S. president Donald Trump said he would make a decision in the next two week on whether he will get involved with Israel. Metals analysts at a Shanghai futures firm said that a number of issues are affecting the metals...

Alexander Shevelev said that the Russian steel industry could close down due to low demand at home and the high rouble, which reduces profitability for exports. A Russian Railways document, seen by us last month, showed that the high rate in Russia, which was 21% for many months before it was reduced to 20 % earlier in June has caused steel producers to reduce their loading volumes. This is a reflection of the slowing Russian economy and its subdued demand. Shevelev stated that high rates could cause the demand for steel to drop by 10% to 39 million tonnes this...