In this week's Market Movers Americas, presented by Eugenia Romero:
• Latin American oil market anticipates discounted Russian barrels
• Low gas storage withdrawals weigh on prices
• Li-Cycle provides update on battery recycling growth
• CAISO to decide on EDAM final proposal
• USGC clean tanker freight hits multi-month lows
This week,
The Americas are watching for the effects of sanctions against Russian refined products that go into effect Feb. 5. The Latin American market is expected to import many of the excess Russian barrels when those prices fall, though it remains to be seen which country will be the first to take advantage of the discount.
US natural gas markets are still sinking, as high supply, limited winter demand, and the ongoing outage of Freeport LNG's export terminal continue to pressure prices across the country. The latest storage withdrawal was less than half the five-year historical average, highlighting the ongoing oversupply in the US.
US electric vehicle battery recycler Li-Cycle will discuss the progress of its expanding recycling operations in its earnings call this week. The company opened two battery recycling facilities in the US last year and is looking to open a black mass processing facility in New York. It could start producing secondary battery metals such as lithium by the end of the year.
The California Independent System Operator is expected to approve the Extended Day-Ahead Market proposal on Wednesday. This would extend the ISO day-ahead market to non-ISO entities participating in the Western Energy Imbalance Market. The next step will be to file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Finally, product tanker routes out of the Americas haven't yet seen the boost anticipated for the start of the year. Freight is at its lowest level since January 2022, a month before Russia invaded Ukraine. Shipowner profits have hit negative territory for the major USGC-UKC route as the price cap forces owners to look for alternate routes.
I'm Eugenia Romero. Thanks for kicking off your Monday with S&P Global Commodity Insights.