Renewable Energy

The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas were mostly stable on Friday, as Norwegian flows stabilized and the low demand allowed storage to be refilled. However, the tighter market conditions continued to support these prices. LSEG data shows that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract was up 0.26 euros at 35.18 Euro per megawatt hour or $11.68/mmBtu at 0816 GMT. Auxilione, a consultancy, said that with the June contract ending on Friday, market attention is now shifted to July. The Dutch July contract increased by 0.14 euros to 35.40 Euro/MWh. The British front-month contracts were down 1.21 pence, at 83.25...

The Republican-led House of Representatives passed a comprehensive budget package which would meet many of the priorities of President Donald Trump. Next, the Republican-led Senate will take up the package with likely significant changes. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has summarized the main elements of this package. According to them, the deficit would increase by $3.8 trillion over a period of 10 years. The estimates of CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation for some elements below are likely to be revised in the coming weeks. Tax Breaks and Tax Cuts (Cost: $2.2 trillion) Makes permanent lower income tax rates that...

The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas rose on Wednesday to their highest level in over six weeks, boosted by a lower Norwegian supply, the competition for liquefied gas, and concerns about peace talks in Ukraine and unrest in Middle East. The benchmark Dutch front month contract rose 0.48 euros to 37.63 euros per Megawatt Hour at 0813 GMT. This was its highest level since 7 April. The British contract for the month of June increased by 1.29 pence, to 90.31 p/therm. This is the highest price since April 4. Day-ahead gas rose 0.70 pence to 90.50 p/therm. A...

The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it would audit grants of $15 billion awarded to projects involving the power grid, manufacturing supply chains and other infrastructure during the Biden Administration. Donald Trump has pushed for domestic oil, gas and coal production while also halting the construction of offshore wind farms and taking measures to relax regulations on fossil fuels. Last week, the Republican Trump administration proposed to cut billions of dollars from funding for renewable energy projects and electric car chargers. The DOE has been reviewing the billions that were rushed through the door in the last days of...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a proposal rule to the White House, asking for its review. It outlines the amount of biofuels that oil refiners will have to blend into their fuel starting in 2026. Since President Donald Trump's inauguration in January, the politically powerful oil and fuel lobbies have been waiting for this proposed rule. This will be the first opportunity for the Republican President to demonstrate his support for the biofuels policies, which have historically pitted Big Oil against the Farm Belt. This dynamic changed in the run-up to the proposed rule. A coalition of oil and...

Republicans in Congress released the first drafts of a sweeping package to reduce taxes and spend less, which would satisfy President Donald Trump’s call to do so. However, many details need to be worked out. Here's a summary on what they've proposed so far and what has been left out. Budget estimates for the next ten years are provided by both the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) and the Congressional Budget Office. What's in the Bottle? Permanently extends the lower tax rates that Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will expire in 2025. Increases the standard deduction from...

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a research division of U.S. Department of Energy, which focuses on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, announced on Tuesday it had laid off 114 workers due to federal budget reductions, stop work orders, and new directives. Why it's important The reduction in staff at NREL in Golden, Colorado, reflects a broader trend of cuts to the Department of Energy's workforce under President Donald Trump. According to NREL's website, the staff reduction is about 3% of its 3,675 employees. KEY QUOTE "NREL's Mission continues to be crucial for achieving an affordable and secured...

Grains merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland will permanently close its soybean processing plant in Kershaw, South Carolina, later this spring as part of a cost-cutting and consolidation push announced earlier this year, the company confirmed to on Monday. ADM has cut jobs and downsized some operations ever since February, when it announced that it would be cutting costs by $500 to $700 millions over three to five year. Dane Lisser, ADM's spokesperson, said: "After exploring many alternatives, we have determined that our Kershaw crushing plant does not align with our future operating needs." Still reeling from a scandal that sent the stock price...

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are exploring the possibility of selling their majority stake in German renewable projects developer PNE. This could lead to a bid being made for the 1,09 billion euro ($1.17 billion), firm. One person said that Goldman Sachs is already contacting potential private equity investors about their interest in Morgan Stanley’s 50.06% stake, currently valued at around 543 million Euros, in PNE. The people added that the deliberations are still at an early stage, and it is not certain if a deal will happen. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and PNE declined to comment. According to German...

The CEO of the global crop merchant said that despite tariff tensions, he expects Canadian vegetable oils to continue to flow to the United States. The use of tariffs by U.S. president Donald Trump as a key economic and diplomatic instrument has strained ties with trading partner countries including Canada and Mexico. Washington's tariff offense has upset the U.S. agriculture sector, which depends heavily on North American commerce, including large quantities of canola oils and fertilisers from Canada. After rapid investment in renewable vegetable oil-based diesel, uncertainty over U.S. policy has clouded the future for agribusiness companies. LDC CEO Michael...

The best way to navigate the challenges that the U.S. president Donald Trump's inconsistent and erratic trade policies are posing for the global commodity markets is to ignore the noise and concentrate on the fundamentals. While the media focuses on every headline-grabbing announcement or social media post regarding new and retaliatory duties from the U.S. president and his administration the commodity markets continue to do what they have done in the past: adapt to rapidly changing conditions. It's important to distinguish between commodities that are already affected by Trump's policies and those likely to be impacted in the future. There...

Microsoft Vice President for Energy Bobby Hollis said at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, on Wednesday, that the U.S. still has a lot of room to expand wind and solar power development, especially in the Midwest wind-corridor and the sunny southwest. The rapid proliferation of Big Tech’s energy-intensive cloud and AI data centers is shaking the stagnant U.S. electricity industry. It has pushed the country's consumption to a new high and raised questions about the future of carbon-free renewable power. Hollis said, "We think that there is still a long way to go before renewables are a significant part of...

Malaysian palm futures continued to fall on Thursday as investors booked profits, and the prices of competing edible oils dropped. The benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in August on the Bursa Derivatives exchange fell 44 ringgit or 1.11% to 3,904 Ringgit ($923.59) per metric ton. Anilkumar bagani, the head of research for Mumbai-based Sunvin Group, said that palm oil futures had been trading lower due to profit taking, low energy prices, and weakness in other vegetable oil markets, such as those in China and the U.S. Dalian's palm oil contract, which is the most active contract, fell by 0.37%...

Brazil signed protocols on Tuesday with China to allow the export of an ethanol-by-product used as animal feed. This is a challenge to the U.S. market dominance amid the ongoing China/U.S. Trade Standoff. This deal is outlined in an official document from the Brazilian government. Animal feed is highly valued for distillers dried grains, especially for pigs and cattle. In an interview on Monday, the president of Brazil's National Corn Ethanol Union said that Brazil and China had been working together since 2022 to reach a sanitary accord for DDG exports. He added that current "broad political shifts" are a...

The Malaysian data centre company Equinix announced on Wednesday that it was looking into alternative sources of energy, as it anticipates an increase in domestic electricity rates to raise its costs. The Malaysian government announced previously that it would increase electricity rates by 14.2% this July. Equinix Malaysia's managing director Cheam Tat Inn said that the company was looking into a variety of renewable energy service providers during a tour of the completed second phase of their data center in Cyberjaya. Cheam didn't specify the renewable sources used or a time frame. Equinix Malaysia operates two data centers, Cyberjaya, and...

Malaysian palm futures have reversed their gains from earlier in the week, due to a stronger ringgit, and weak demand on key markets. Prices also fell for the entire week. The benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in July on Bursa Derivatives Malaysia Exchange dropped 0.79% at the close to 3,880 Ringgit ($911.23) per metric ton. The contract dropped 4.36% in the last week. Anilkumar bagani, head of commodity research at Mumbai-based Sunvin Group, explained that a stronger ringgit, and a lack of enthusiasm in the face of expectations of an increased inventory of palm oil in Malaysia for April,...

Due to high tariffs, China's exports of used cooking oil to the United States - its biggest buyer - are expected to plummet in the coming months. Sellers will be forced to divert shipments elsewhere or to Europe, according to industry players. The Trump administration has imposed a 125% tariff on Chinese UCO imports starting this month. Three UCO traders in China said that the U.S. shipments, which were worth $1.1 billion last fiscal year, have been falling. The last cargoes are expected to arrive around the end of March or early April, before the trade grinds to an abrupt...

The price of Malaysian palm oils rose for the third session in a row on Friday. This was due to strong demand before Eid al-Fitr, an Islamic holiday. Also, rival vegetable oil prices were strong. The benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in June on the Bursa Derivatives exchange gained 108 Ringgit or 2.5% to $4420 ringgit (US$996.62) per metric ton. The contract rose 1.03% in the last week, marking its first weekly increase in three. A Kuala Lumpur based trader stated that "Today crude palm oil future prices are up due to strong physical demand because of the holiday...

After three sessions of losses in a row, Malaysian palm oils futures rose on Wednesday. This was due to bargain hunters after the contract reached a two-month low. The benchmark palmoil contract for June delivery at the Bursa Derivatives Exchange increased 0.33%, closing at 4,259 Ringgit ($962.05) a metric ton. When prices reached the lowest point of the day, they were too low to ignore. "We saw a great deal of bargain-hunting today. A lot of buyers came out and there was also a good amount of (short)covering," said Paramalingam Supramaniam of Selangor brokerage Pelindung Bestari. Intertek Testing Services, a...

After three sessions of losses in a row, Malaysian palm oils futures rose on Wednesday. This was due to bargain-hunting after the contract reached a two-month low. By midday, the benchmark palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia's Derivatives exchange rose by 0.75% to $4277 per metric ton ($966.34). This week, the contract has fallen by 2.97%. When prices reached the lowest point of the day, they were too cheap to ignore. "We saw a great deal of bargain-hunting today. A lot of buyers came out and there was a (short)covering as well," said Paramalingam Supramaniam of Selangor brokerage Pelindung Bestari....

The price of palm oil in Malaysia fell for the third time on Tuesday, to its lowest close in almost two months. This was due to lower prices for rival vegetable oils at Dalian and Chicago and weaker export data. The benchmark June palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia's Derivatives exchange lost 58 Ringgit or 1.35% to close at 4,247 Ringgit per metric ton, its lowest price since January 27. Anilkumar bagani, head of commodity research at Mumbai-based Sunvin Group vegetable oils brokerage, said: "The sentiments in palm oil are bearish right now because it has been forced by the...

Malaysian palm futures rose on Thursday, supported by lower production levels but capped by persistent concerns about demand from key import countries. At the close, the benchmark May palm oil contract on Bursa Derivatives Exchange rose 52 ringgit or 1.16% to 4,533 Ringgit ($1,022.10) per metric ton. The contract fell by 2.98% over the last three sessions. The palm oil market is resilient, despite the recent sell-offs due to uncertainty in global markets over tariffs. Production hasn't picked up since March and demand remains a concern, said Paramalingam Supramaniam of Selangor brokerage Pelindung Bestari. "Even if the production picks up...

Malaysian palm futures rose Thursday, following the movement of rival oils in Dalian and Chicago, but caution about U.S. Tariffs limited gains. The benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in May on the Bursa Derivatives Market gained 63 ringgit (1.43%) to close at $4,480 ringgit (1,012.43) per metric ton. Anilkumar bagani, research head at Mumbai-based Sunvin Group, says that the market remains cautious due to confusion regarding U.S. Tariffs on Mexico and Canada. The direction of the soy oil, rapeseed, and canola futures are also unclear from the North American, European, and Asian markets. Chinese futures, however, were trading slightly...

Malaysian palm futures rose Wednesday, ending two sessions of losses. The market was awaiting the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB)'s data. The benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in May on the Bursa Derivatives Exchange gained 69 ringgit or 1.59% to close at $4,418 ringgit (US$997.97) per metric ton. A Kuala Lumpur trader stated that "the futures will attempt to recover some yesterday's loss before resuming their direction, while waiting for the MPOB data next Monday." On March 10, the MPOB will release its monthly statistics. The Chicago Board of Trade's (CBOT) soyoil price rose by 0.77%. Dalian's palm oil...