(Bloomberg) — North America’s steel industry is gathering in Atlanta as it struggles with weak U.S. demand, sluggish prices and a glut of Chinese steel. A key report on Brazilian sugar will provide insight into future price trends for the sweetener. Also, crude oil inventories at major U.S. hubs are at their lowest since February.
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As the week begins, here are five charts to watch in global commodity markets.
steel
The North American steel industry will converge on Atlanta from Monday to Wednesday for the annual SMU Steel Summit. Topics are expected to include the impact of surging Chinese exports that are driving down prices around the world and whether sluggish U.S. demand will start to recover. A top concern for conference attendees will be the future direction of the market, with steel prices down more than 40% this year and approaching their lowest since the end of 2022.
sugar
Upcoming sugar production data from Brazil, the world’s top exporter, will be a crucial indicator of whether supplies remain adequate for global markets. The country is more than halfway through its cane harvest and has produced a faster-than-average pace so far, helping to drive down prices of the sweetener by about 12% this year. Still, dry weather threatens to hurt yields, and traders will look for clues in a report from industry group Unica due to be released this week.
oil
Crude oil inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, a major hub, plummeted to a six-month low as refineries in the region ramped up activity following unexpected outages. Lower crude shipments from Canada, which fell to their lowest since April earlier this month, are also contributing to the tight supply in storage. The decline in Cushing crude oil inventories is helping to support the bullish backwardation structure of the U.S. crude oil futures curve, and a continued downward trend could push timespreads higher.
Dairy products
China’s launch of an anti-subsidy investigation into dairy imports from the European Union last week is the latest move in the tit-for-tat trade dispute. The investigation covers several dairy products, including fresh and processed cheeses, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. The latest development is a new twist in a trade dispute between the two countries, where products such as electric vehicles and pork are under threat of potential tariff hikes. China is the second-largest export market for EU dairy products.
Climate Technology
The United States has surpassed China as the largest backer of technologies aimed at solving the climate crisis, according to a recent analysis by BloombergNEF. The U.S. has led the way, largely due to effective tax credits and incentives, but funding for the sector has fallen by almost 50% globally compared to the same period last year. Overall, climate tech companies, including sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries and clean power, raised $22 billion worldwide in the first half of this year.
–With assistance from Doug Alexander, Devika Krishna Kumar, and Michelle Ma.
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