Chicago soybean futures rose to a two-year high after weather models pointed to a prolonged dry spell across Mato Grosso and Parana, Brazil’s top growing states. Brazil’s national crop agency trimmed its harvest forecast, citing rainfall roughly 30% below the seasonal average during the critical pod-filling stage. The shortfall comes…
Spot liquefied natural gas prices for Northeast Asian delivery jumped to their highest level since last winter, as an early-season heatwave across Japan and South Korea drove a surge in power-plant demand for cooling. Platts assessed the JKM benchmark climbing past $14 per million British thermal units, with utilities restocking…
The Baltic Dry Index, a gauge of bulk shipping costs, rose to its highest level in 18 months, led by a sharp jump in Capesize rates on stronger iron ore and coal cargoes out of Brazil and Australia. Daily earnings for Capesize vessels topped $28,000, according to the Baltic Exchange,…
Indonesia’s government confirmed a new royalty structure for nickel ore exports, raising rates to between 14% and 19% depending on the international price benchmark, up from a flat 10% previously. The policy is designed to funnel more raw ore into the country’s rapidly expanded domestic smelting industry, which now accounts…
China’s official manufacturing PMI rose to 50.6 in June, moving back above the 50 threshold that separates expansion from contraction for the first time since January. New export orders posted their strongest reading in over a year, helped by front-loaded shipments ahead of a pending review of US tariff exemptions…
Spot container rates from Asia to Europe fell 11% this week to $2,450 per forty-foot box, as a growing number of shipping lines resumed transits through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Two major carriers confirmed plans to shift a portion of their Asia-Europe capacity back to the shorter route,…