Crude oil
On Monday, oil prices eased slightly as economic reports revealed retail sales fell 11% in China in April after the country extended the COVID-19 lockdown to 46 cities.
The price of crude oil also supported reports that the EU could negotiate additional sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine. European diplomats and officials have indicated that new sanctions would target Russian oil.
The COVID-19 lockdown is expected to offset the drop in crude oil shipments from Russia by dropping crude oil imports from China. Therefore, we anticipate oil prices to remain close to current levels shortly.
Brent
After Saudi Arabia’s crude exports fell to 7.235 million barrels a day in March (BPD), Brent crude, against which Nigerian oil is priced, dropped to $108.96 a barrel on Monday before recovering to $112.66. It represents a 1% decline from the 7.307 million BPD reported in February.
According to a statement released by the European Commission Monday, the European Commission has increased its forecast for Brent oil’s average annual price to $103.6 a barrel by 1.6 times.
The Commission forecast that the 2022 figure would be $63.9 per barrel and the 2023 figure would be $61.6 per barrel in its fall forecast. Brent could average $103.6 a barrel this year and $93.5 by 2023, according to the updated forecast.
Natural gas
On Monday, European gas prices continued to fall. However, Russia’s needs are being met, and European companies secure gas supplies. People familiar with the situation say that Italian energy giant Eni SpA will open ruble and euro accounts with Gazprombank by Wednesday to make payments on time and avoid any risks to gas supplies this month.
One of the sources said that the company waited until those recommendations were officially released before acting. The German Uniper SE and the Austrian OMV AG have also announced that they anticipate more gas purchases.
Germany’s Economics Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday that energy suppliers will be able to make their next gas payments to Moscow despite the sanctions regime and the new Moscow rules.
Gold
As of Monday morning, spot gold was down to $1,786 a troy ounce, its lowest level since January of last year. As a result of the poor Chinese data, the dollar rose against most of its major rivals as speculators were reminded of the fragile global economy. Though most local indices ended in the red, the gloom eased during the European session.
Although the US dollar fell, sentiment remains unfavorable. As a result, demand for safe-haven bonds has pushed US Treasury yields lower on the day, with the 10-year Treasury yielding 2.86%.
Corn
In Monday’s corn futures market, contracts gained 13 to 20 cents. Support was provided by the strength of wheat, which was increased.
According to Monday morning’s export inspection data, in the week ended May 12, 1,037 million tons of corn were shipped. Compared to the same week last year, that’s a drop of 48.03%. As of February 21, deliveries totaled 39,103 million tons, a decrease of 17.4% from the previous month.
As of today’s NASS update, trade ideas for corn farming progress are up 46-48%, still behind the average pace of 67%. It will be humid again ahead of next week in parts of Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and the ECB.
