Oil futures dropped over 2% yesterday to log their lowest finish in almost a week. Crude futures were higher in mid-morning trading, with WTI up 0.9% at $90.14/bbl and Brent up 1.1% at $91.76/bbl. U.S. natural gas futures were 5.0% lower at $4.03/MMBtu.
High oil prices will drive U.S. producers to boost output to nearly 12 million bpd this year and a record 12.6 million bpd in 2023, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts. The agency also upped its 2022 price forecasts for U.S. and global benchmark prices by about 11%.
Western Canada crude stockpiles have fallen to 36% of storage capacity, a record low for this time of year, as oil-sands producers prepare to shut some operations for maintenance. Dwindling supply could put even more upward price pressure on U.S. crude.
Almost half of last month’s record 9.5 million metric tons of European gas imports came from the U.S., with another 30 vessels set to arrive this month. The surge has oversaturated the European LNG market, with spot freight rates to the continent turning negative for the first time since 2019 after peaking at $273,000 in early December.
Mexico’s Pemex slashed oil exports to India, its third-largest market, to just 15,000 bpd as the nation works toward ending all crude exports by 2023. India plans to make up for the shortfall by importing more oil from Iraq.
BP reported its strongest quarterly profit in nearly a decade yesterday and said that its planned slashing of 40% of fossil fuel production by 2030 will not eat into revenue streams.
Russia’s Rosneft extended an annual 100-million-tonne oil supply deal with China for the next decade.
Anti-vaccine protests escalated in Canada, as protestors halted traffic yesterday on the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, which carries some 25% of all traded goods between the U.S. and Canada. The demonstrations included only three semitrucks, a sharp contrast to demonstrating truckers in Western Canada that are forcing carriers to reroute and delaying freight movement into Alberta. Auto manufacturers and suppliers are warning of operational disruptions within the coming days due to supply shortages.
Parts of Nebraska, Kansas and the Dakotas will see strong wind gusts over the coming days that increase the risk of truck rollovers, officials say.
U.S. railroad carload and intermodal freight were down in January from a year ago, with overall traffic off 9.5%.
The roughly 18 recently built container storage yards at West Coast and Southern cargo hubs should help ease congestion across freight networks, industry analysts say.
Hong Kong is now requiring cargo pilots to wear electronic monitoring bracelets as part of significantly tightened rules to stop the record spread of COVID-19.
California officials estimate a below-sea reservoir could produce up to 600,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate per year, potentially limiting dependence on Australia, Chile and China for the key battery material.
Soaring demand from China and Mexico lifted U.S. farm exports 18% last year to a record $177 billion.
Arabica coffee futures rose 76% in 2021, the largest annual gain in more than a decade as drought and frost hit Brazil, the world’s top producer. U.S. coffee retailers are passing on the costs to consumers in the form of higher-priced menu items.
Domestic Markets
The U.S. reported 198,738 new COVID-19 infections and 3,277 virus fatalities Tuesday.
Seven-day averages for new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are falling while average fatality rates appear to have stabilized above 2,500 per day, the highest level in a year.
New COVID-19 cases in Michigan are at a two-month low as lawmakers passed a $1.2 billion spending bill with $300 million marked to help retain healthcare workers.
The U.S. trade deficit rose 27% to a record $859.1 billion on elevated consumer spending for overseas goods. The previous record was $763.53 billion set in 2006.
More than 60% of U.S. small businesses raised their prices last month due to labor and material costs, the highest percentage in a half-century.
U.S. households added more than $1 trillion in debt last year, the largest increase since 2007, driven by a jump in mortgage and auto loans. More Americans also are returning to pre-pandemic spending levels, with credit-card balances rising every quarter in 2021 to end the year at $856 billion.
A typical U.S. house found a buyer within 61 days in January, 10 days faster than a year ago and 29 days faster than the pace of sales from 2017-2020.
At $70.8 billion, foreign investment in U.S. commercial property returned to pre-pandemic levels last year as focus shifted from office buildings in major cities to hot locations such as warehouses, rental apartments and specialized office buildings for pharmaceutical businesses.
Big U.S. automakers are warning of consequences to dealerships that add to the already high sticker prices of cars, a practice enabled by pandemic-induced shortages.
Qualcomm plans to expand beyond its core cell phone market after automotive chip sales rose 21% in the most recent quarter, leading to $3.4 billion in net income. Ferrari, for example, made a recent announcement to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips in its vehicle dashboards.
A San Francisco startup raised more than $3 million in seed funding for an artificial intelligence platform it claims can model new materials at an atomic level.
Zero COVID-19 cases were reported among the 133 people arriving to Beijing for the Olympics Monday, a first. Officials will allow more spectators now that the virus is apparently under control within the Games’ “closed-loop” system. Thirty-two athletes remain quarantined with the virus.
Malaysia’s COVID-19 recovery panel recommended the nation fully reopen its borders March 1 without quarantine mandates, a bid to boost its economic recovery.
Despite a 22% rise in COVID-19 infections the past week, German provinces are widely easing restrictions due to lower strain on hospitals from the Omicron variant.
Poland indefinitely delayed its March 1 deadline for public employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Backlogged orders at Airbus shrank by 16 last month after a 52-jet contract with Qatar Airways was scrapped.
With electric vehicle sales in Europe projected to double each year for the next five years, the continent will likely need another 65 million chargers to fuel those vehicles, economists say.
At M. Holland
Plastics News reported that M. Holland earned a Bronze rating from EcoVadis, a trusted provider of business sustainability ratings. The article reports that our improved annual score for 2021 is due to progress in our diversity and inclusion program, wellness benefits, career development and more.
Our Healthcare team has published a revised Medical Resin Selection Booklet containing additional resins, new focus grades and new 3D printing resins.
M. Holland’s 3D Printing group offers a rapid response alternative for producing selected parts where resin availability is tight. For more information, email our 3D Printing team.
Market Expertise: M. Holland offers a host of resources to clients, prospects and suppliers across nine strategic markets.
For all COVID-19 updates and notices, please refer to the M. Holland website.