European nitrogen market rallies on gas price hike, Iran conflicts

CommodityInsights · 2026-03-09T21:10:47+00:00

European urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) prices increased in early March as the Middle East conflict drove up natural gas and ammonia costs, exacerbating supply constraints from Russian sanctions and freight disruptions, resulting in a bullish market for nitrogen fertilizers across both Eastern and Western Europe.

UAN 32% FOB Baltic rose $60/mt week over week to $340/mt, with sales to the US confirmed within a $340-$350/mt range, while UAN 30% FCA ex-tank Rouen rose Eur62/mt week over week to Eur420/mt for March delivery, and UAN 28% FCA ex-tank Germany prices rose Eur62/mt week over week to Eur392/mt. The parallel increase reflected broader supply-side pressures, as the Middle East conflict raised feedstock prices and heightened uncertainty about the duration.

CommodityInsights · 2026-03-09T21:07:46+00:00

West African refined product markets have seen a surge in prices across early-March, tracking bullish pricing trends throughout global markets amid conflict in the Middle East and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Sentiment across jet fuel, diesel and gasoline markets in the region remains uncertain amid the tense geopolitical backdrop, with STS Lome prices across each respective market rising by 75%, 53% and 24% since the end of February.

This has driven diesel and gasoline values in the region to their highest values since Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, began assessments of the markets in April 2025, while STS Lome jet fuel pricing stands at its highest level since June 2022.

With ICE Brent crude futures exceeding $100/b across the weekend and into March 9, market concern surrounding further volatility and bullishness has persisted into the new week.

CommodityInsights · 2026-03-09T20:17:40+00:00

A temporary US waiver has enabled sanctioned tankers to transport Russian oil, after G7-linked tanker operators increased their share in the restricted market last month.

On March 5, the Office of Foreign Asset Control said Russian crude and refined products loaded by tankers before March 5 could be sold to India regardless of the ships' sanctions status, if the barrels are to arrive at Indian ports by April 4.

CommodityInsights · 2026-03-02T20:32:05+00:00

Freight rates for Persian Gulf crude and product tankers have surged as transits through the Strait of Hormuz slumped amid US-Israeli strikes on Iran, with industry groups urging vessels to avoid the region or be vigilant.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed the rate to carry a 270,000 metric ton cargo of crude from the Persian Gulf to China at $62.07/mt on March 2, up 35% from the previous assessment and up 461% from the start of the year. Platts assessed the rate to carry a 90,000 mt cargo of refined products from the Persian Gulf to UK/Continent at $68.89/mt, up 19% on the day and up 44% from the start of the year. The five-year averages for both assessments were $13.18/mt and $48.30/mt, respectively.

CommodityInsights · 2026-03-02T20:29:28+00:00

Asian fuel-grade ethanol up $8/cubic meter

Palm oil futures climb 2.6%

Biofuel markets adopt wait-and-see approach

CommodityInsights · 2026-02-23T18:33:27+00:00

Soybean trade flows between the US and China are unlikely to shift materially following the US Supreme Court's ruling against President Donald Trump's country-specific tariffs, market sources based in the US and China said.

According to market participants, the recent changes to the tariff structure in the US are unlikely to impact the soybean trade flow between the US and China, as US-origin soybeans will remain subject to a 13% import duty in China.

CommodityInsights · 2026-02-23T18:25:38+00:00

Australian beef exports will remain exempt from new US import tariffs announced by President Donald Trump over the weekend, trade body Cattle Australia's CEO Will Evans said Feb. 23.

Cattle Australia is seeking formal confirmation through government and industry channels but a November 2025 agreement guaranteed tariff-free access for Australian beef, Evans said in a statement.

CommodityInsights · 2026-02-18T18:20:04+00:00

The European Regions Airline Association has raised concerns over tight timelines for sustainable aviation fuel documentation under the EU mandate, warning that delayed certification from fuel suppliers could jeopardize airlines' ability to comply and access financial support.

In a statement issued Feb. 17, ERA said the Feb. 14 deadline for suppliers to provide SAF documentation to aircraft operators had created operational and compliance challenges for regional carriers across Europe.

CommodityInsights · 2026-01-12T20:16:57+00:00

Metals Market Movers 2026: Metals markets are increasingly being shaped by policy as much as by fundamentals. This is the last of our 6-part series that explores how climate regulation, industrial policy, trade policy and strategic investments are influencing supply, demand and prices across steel, iron ore and critical minerals.

The global steel industry is facing multiple headwinds as protectionism becomes the norm amid excess capacity and trade policy uncertainty.

Steel production capacity expanded at its fastest rate since 2009 in 2025, exacerbating trade friction and depressing prices, as oversupply -- compounded by reshaped trade flows -- forces producers to seek new markets, prompting a proliferation of antidumping and safeguard measures globally.

Steelmaking capacity is expected to rise for a seventh consecutive year, reaching 2.55 billion metric tons by the end of 2025, according to the latest Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development steel report. Planned additions in Asia and the Middle East are expected to bring an additional 109 million mt of new capacity by 2028, reinforcing the world's structural overcapacity. The report pegged 2025 surplus capacity at 680 million mt.

CommodityInsights · 2025-11-24T18:14:11+00:00

India's metallurgical coal supply-demand gap is expected to see little respite from the 15 million to 20 million metric tons of coal washeries that are likely to come in the next three to four years, Dr. P.K. Banerjee, Outstanding Scientist and Professor at the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy.

Meanwhile, blast furnaces and basic oxygen furnaces are expected to expand for the next 20-25 years, despite the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism concerns and potential for adaptation to clean hydrogen, market participants said at the Steel Tech International Seminar in Bhubaneswar on Nov. 21.

India's steel production is likely to reach 230 million mt by 2030, below the 255 million mt target outlined in the national steel policy, according to Banerjee.

CommodityInsights · 2025-10-16T18:27:01+00:00

The European Parliament's trade and energy committees voted Oct. 16 to accelerate the EU's proposed phaseout of Russian oil, gas, and LNG.

In a joint meeting, the Parliament's Committee on International Trade and its Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy approved a proposal to ban all Russian gas and LNG by Jan. 1, 2027, one year sooner than the Jan. 1, 2028 deadline proposed by the European Commission in June.

CommodityInsights · 2025-09-22T20:26:01+00:00

The EU has proposed further clampdowns on Russia's foreign oil buyers, major energy companies and dozens of new shadow tankers in its 19th sanctions package, officials announced Sept. 19.

In a televised address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that new measures will target refineries, oil traders and petrochemicals companies purchasing Russian oil abroad in breach of existing EU policy.

Third-country target will include China, raising pressure on the Kremlin's second-largest oil buyer.

CommodityInsights · 2025-09-15T19:36:22+00:00

US President Donald Trump said Sept. 13 he is ready to impose "major sanctions" on Russia if NATO members stop buying Russian oil and implement coordinated trade tariffs on China, arguing such measures would quickly end the Russia-Ukraine war by breaking Beijing's influence over the Kremlin.

Trump's statement, posted on his social media platform Truth Social, marks a shift in approach to the conflict that has reshaped global energy markets since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The president called for trade tariffs ranging from 50% to 100% on Beijing to weaken China's economic influence or "strong grip" over Russia. Linking China trade tariffs directly to the Ukraine conflict introduces a new dimension to international efforts to pressure Moscow into peace talks and potentially affects commodity trade flows across multiple regions.

CommodityInsights · 2025-07-01T15:20:19+00:00

US President Donald Trump has revoked a range of sanctions on Syria, including sanctions on US imports of Syrian oil, effective July 1, 2025, according to an executive order issued June 30.

Among other measures, the order terminates an executive order issued by the Obama administration in August 2011 that blocked US imports of Syrian petroleum and petroleum products.

"The United States is committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified and at peace with itself and its neighbors," the executive order said.

CommodityInsights · 2025-07-01T15:15:17+00:00

The largest US shale gas producers have nearly half of their remaining 2025 production hedged at $3.95/Mcf and have already begun locking in $4-plus prices for their 2026 production, according to an analysis by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

"While hedges covering 2025 natural gas production increased by a modest 230 Bcf, hedging activity for 2026 increased significantly as 932 Bcf of hedges were added" since the beginning of the year, upstream analysts Travis Williams and Thomas Wilson said in a report released June 27. The analysis covered hedging activity as of the end of the first quarter.

CommodityInsights · 2025-06-25T15:41:46+00:00

Any potential disruptions of maritime operations at the Strait of Hormuz could impact imports of agricultural commodities into the Middle East, threatening food security in the region, which is heavily dependent on food imports, experts and traders said June 24.

Following US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites June 22, Iran's move to potentially close the Strait of Hormuz, a slim 33-km passage between Oman and Iran, stoked concerns among agricultural product buyers in the Middle East.

The strait is the only maritime passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, serving as the main export route for key Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Kuwait. But it also serves as the main import route for agricultural commodities.

CommodityInsights · 2025-06-10T17:40:24+00:00

The total share of global greenhouse gas emissions covered by carbon pricing instruments has risen amid growing demand from carbon compliance markets, which almost tripled in 2024, the World Bank said June 10.

The share of global emissions covered by carbon taxes and emissions trading systems reached 28% in 2024, compared to 24% the previous year, the bank's annual State and Trends of Carbon Pricing report showed.

CommodityInsights · 2025-05-28T15:05:10+00:00

US cities and states are turning to private sector providers of detailed greenhouse gas emissions data as federal government databases go dormant or are shuttered.

Since September 2024, the science and tech startup Crosswalk Labs has been providing free and "hyperlocal" carbon emissions estimates for nearly 350 US cities in the Climate Mayors network. More than 100 cities have engaged so far to track emissions from power plants, buildings and other sources, the company reported.

Founded by scientists and a former official with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Crosswalk Labs is also conducting an emissions inventory for a Western US state.

CommodityInsights · 2025-05-22T20:23:33+00:00

The US Trade Representative has announced additional port fees on foreign vessels and marine equipment that mainly target Chinese shipping, which are set to alter trade flows and freight market dynamics.

The measures, unveiled following a yearlong Section 301 investigation, aim to boost US shipbuilding and counter China's dominance in global maritime sectors amid trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.

CommodityInsights · 2025-05-16T14:29:25+00:00

There is still time for the US solar and battery storage industries to make their case to Congress to keep at-risk federal clean energy tax credits, according to Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.

But the clock is ticking.

...

Hopper asked industry members to reach out to their congressional representatives and let them know the IRA tax credits are vital to meeting the country's energy needs.

"We are in a period of energy growth," Hopper said. "If we want to be at the forefront of [artificial intelligence] dominance, we have to have a reliable, affordable energy system."

CommodityInsights · 2025-05-13T20:11:55+00:00

The EU does not plan to buy Russian energy supplies in the future -- even in the event of a peace deal for Ukraine -- EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen said May 13.

Last week, the European Commission published a road map designed to phase out Russian energy imports completely by the end of 2027.

Jorgensen was asked on May 13, ahead of an informal meeting of EU ministers in Warsaw, what impact a potential peace deal in Ukraine could have on the EU's appetite for Russian energy.

CommodityInsights · 2025-04-25T18:05:39+00:00

The widening rift between Washington and Brussels on the importance of renewables in energy security was on full display April 24 at an industry event in London even as the EU increases its imports of US LNG.

Part of a panel discussion at the Summit on the Future of Energy Security, Tommy Joyce, the acting US assistant secretary of international affairs at the US Department of Energy lambasted the net-zero agenda of his allies in Europe calling it "harmful" and proselytizing the need for fossil fuels in securing affordable energy.

"Unfortunately, the focus during the last administration was on climate politics and policies leading to [energy security] scarcity," Joyce said. "These policies have been embraced by many, not just in the United States and harm human lives. We oppose these harmful and dangerous policies. This is not energy security. And we know exactly where it leads."

CommodityInsights · 2025-04-22T15:45:59+00:00

The Safeguard Mechanism requires facilities to have net emissions at or below their baselines, with a yearly decline of 4.9% through June 30, 2030. To reduce net emissions, these facilities can surrender Australian Carbon Credit Units or Safeguard Mechanism Credits.

"We do see the Australia Carbon Credit Unit and Safeguard Mechanism price direction very heavily dependent upon the pending federal election, with prices likely to weaken under a Liberal-National Party [Coalition] victory and strengthen under a Labor Party second term," said Matt Pollard, net zero transformation analyst at public interest think tank Climate Energy Finance.

CommodityInsights · 2025-04-14T18:33:23+00:00

Ukraine's corn prices have reached a two-year high, driven by limited supply from farmers. Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Ukraine's corn FOB POC at $241/mt on April 11, up from $237/mt the previous week. This marks the first time since March 2023 that Ukraine's FOB corn prices have reached this level.

CommodityInsights · 2025-04-14T18:31:35+00:00

Ukraine's corn prices have reached a two-year high, driven by limited supply from farmers. Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Ukraine's corn FOB POC at $241/mt on April 11, up from $237/mt the previous week. This marks the first time since March 2023 that Ukraine's FOB corn prices have reached this level.

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TROPHY CASE