Special Reports

With the seaborne sector responsible for 90% of global trade, a tentative recovery from the pandemic has brought changing fortunes for seafarers. Tanker markets have seen freight rates plunge after an end to the recent floating storage boom, while rates in the container markets have stayed firm thanks to capacity management. Dry bulk is now turning a corner and the LNG sector is looking for a lifeline. This report looks to dive into what these changing patterns mean for each industry.

The repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic continue to be felt across the petrochemicals industry, with the global economy facing greater uncertainty than at any time in living memory. As the industry moves into H2 2020, renewed lockdowns, prolonged recessions and the ongoing pandemic present a bleak general outlook. However, the detailed picture is far from clear-cut across the various different petrochemical markets.

After the International Maritime Organization upended global shipping in January with its IMO 2020 marine fuel sulfur limit, the coronavirus outbreak and the stance of OPEC and its allies are bringing high levels of uncertainty. S&P Global Platts examines what this means for dirty tankers, clean tankers, dry bulk, containers and LNG freight.

Gas production at Groningen, Europe’s largest gas field, will end in 2022, eight years earlier than planned due to the risk of earthquakes. The move will leave the continent’s gas market 54 Bcm/year short compared with 2013. In this special report, S&P Global Platts examines how the European gas market will change and the consequences of the shutdown for the energy industry.

Global petrochemical markets are entering a new decade with vast opportunities as well as challenges ahead. In this special report, S&P Global Platts takes a closer look at what to expect in the first half of 2020 – narrowing petrochemical margins on high naphtha and shipping costs, as well as changing trade flows amid trade tensions between nations and China's drive towards self-sufficiency.

This digital report showcases views from S&P Global Platts Analytics on key trends that will unfold in sectors such as oil, gas, power, coal, petrochemicals and agriculture. The interactive timeline allows you to explore the news events that will shape 2020, while Platts president Martin Fraenkel also talks through his five commodity themes to watch.

For the best experience, we recommend saving the file and viewing on a desktop computer.

At a time when the oil market is facing looming structural changes, state-owned companies are transforming themselves - not just to survive, but to thrive. As part of this change, many national oil companies are opening up, diversifying, driving a new wave of downstream development and trading businesses to reach new markets and evolve beyond just national champions.

Plastics recycling’s profile has been steadily growing, with 2018 a pivotal year for the industry as legislation, industry initiatives and consumer awareness led to a focus on waste and recycling. S&P Global Platts takes a global look at the reduction of single-use plastics and the impact of recycling on the virgin plastics market.

Global petrochemical markets are bound to face numerous challenges in the second half of 2019 with the dispute between superpowers and the emergence of China's new mega refineries impacting trade flows, demand-supply dynamics and currency fluctuations. With more new capacities coming on stream soon, turmoil may be the new norm in global markets.

The new decade will present LNG stakeholders with immense opportunities. As significant additions of elastic supply and demand challenge traditional business models, and the trend toward LNG commoditization gathers pace, what lies ahead? S&P Global Platts' latest special report features market insight and analysis, infographics and interviews with the IEA’s Fatih Birol and IGU’s Joe M. Kang.

As the International Maritime Organization's new global sulfur limit for marine fuels approaches, much attention is given to the implications for the shipping industry and refinery production. In this special report, S&P Global Platts examines the various ways the IMO 2020 sulfur cap may impact the multi-faceted petrochemical markets.

Only months before the effective date of IMO 2020, there are a surprising number of shipping industry participants who believe that getting customers to pay for increased bunker costs will be smooth sailing. However, the reality may prove to be more complicated. This report explores how a lack of negotiating power and imperfect bunker cost recovery mechanisms could turn this shadow on the horizon into a dangerous storm for the shipping industry.

Construction markets have their own specific challenges and opportunities but all are exposed to global energy and commodity prices. In this special report, S&P Global Platts explores some of the factors driving construction markets and how developments in commodities such as oil, gas and steel play a key role in determining whether projects get built, and how much they may cost to develop.

This special report provides an introduction to the IMO's sulfur cap on marine fuel, its impact on markets and what to expect from the new regulatory framework. Aiming to provide market-leading insight and analysis, S&P Global Platts outlines the regulation's impact on refiners and shipowners, analyzes how markets will adapt, and offers birds-eye view on how it could affect the environment.

The Americas petrochemicals industry is heading into 2019 amid uncertainty regarding trade flows due to geopolitical concerns. Combined with economic uncertainty, this may have a far-reaching impact across the petrochemical chain, as well as new cracker and derivatives capacities that are slated to come online.

Click here to read our H2 2019 Global Petrochemical Outlook

Global petrochemical markets are bound to face numerous challenges in the second half of 2019 with the dispute between superpowers and the emergence of China's new mega refineries impacting trade flows, demand-supply dynamics and currency fluctuations. With more new capacities coming on stream soon, turmoil may be the new norm in global markets.

The container industry is currently struggling with adjusting to growing bunker costs and negotiating bunker surcharges. S&P Global Platts examines how using index-linked contracts and blockchain can solve these issues.

LNG's ongoing commoditization – resulting in smaller, shorter, flexible contracts with less credit-worthy buyers – is severely challenging new liquefaction financings. Several solutions have been proposed to ease this financing slowdown. In this S&P Global Platts special report, LNG financing leaders discuss other potential FID facilitators, including greater equity investments, increased LNG price hedging, project sponsor guarantees, and a more proactive approach from export credit agencies.

The US chemical industry is in the crosshairs of escalating trade tensions between the US and China that have spawned tariffs on hundreds of products from both countries. From steel and parts needed to build multibillion-dollar plants to numerous raw-material chemicals and plastics produced, tariffs have affected hundreds of billions of dollars in commerce between the world's two largest economies, and markets are responding accordingly.

The first half of 2018 had a number of surprises for the metallurgical coal market, with Chinese environmental policies, strong thermal coal markets and other factors leading to changes in the price relationships between coal quality segments and changes in the availability of specific brands. At the same time, overall spot liquidity has been lower than the previous year as global steelmakers opted to procure more coal via term contracts.

The growth in US crude production over the last several years has revolutionized the global markets, with daily crude exports set to hit nearly 4 million barrels/day in 2020 from virtually nothing just three years ago. In this special report, S&P Global Platts looks at both the local and global impacts of the US' crude exports, tracing their path from the Permian Basin and Bakken Formation, through the country's vast pipeline network and out to the regional demand centers that have come to rely heavily on American oil.

The phenomenal growth in global LNG trade flows has been underpinned by a vast fleet of LNG carriers that numbers just shy of 500 vessels. The fleet has done for LNG, what container ships have done for manufactured products like the iPhone. It has made it possible for gas producers to propagate LNG as a global fuel and a global commodity. The global LNG fleet will grow at its fastest rate ever in 2018, with newer and better technologies. But will this be enough to absorb the vast amount of new LNG supply coming next year, mainly from the US, and still keep freight rates at affordable levels?

Blockchain could help make commodity trading simpler, faster and cheaper. Pilot projects and trials are popping up around the world, but real world uses are rare so far. Companies will have to tackle issues such as speed, scale, cost, privacy and liability to make using blockchain viable. This special report from S&P Global Platts explains the technology, examines the projects, and looks at the challenges and opportunities ahead as blockchain enters a critical development phase.

The container market has seen a series of public -- and often heated -- arguments this year over the sharp rise in bunker prices and who should foot the bill. S&P Global Platts container market editor Andrew Scorer and Jack Jordan and Paul Hickin from the oil news team analyze the changing landscape of supply chain logistics, and how the International Maritime Organization's lower marine fuels sulfur cap in 2020 is set to complicate the situation even further.

Uncertainty about the potential impacts of escalating trade tensions with China are at the forefront of Americas petrochemicals markets heading into the second half of 2018, particularly as some are still wrestling with changing dynamics that have come with recent capacity expansions.

Firming feedstock prices and strong domestic buying also have proved noteworthy, and have contributed to strengthening pricing in the region.

This special outlook report takes a look at the key themes expected to shape key Americas petrochemicals markets in the months ahead.

Antidumping duties and trade tensions between the US and China are among the biggest factors reshaping the Asian petrochemicals landscape day by day. Our special outlook report takes a look at the impact of these, as well as other key themes that are expected to affect Asian olefins, aromatics and polymer markets in the months ahead.

New global supply will continue to set the tone for European petrochemicals in the second half of 2018, with capacity expansions in the Americas and Asia among the threats to producer margins. Economic fences being built across the globe will see trade flow upheaval, bringing uncertainty and export opportunities as the US-China trade war shows no sign of abating.

This special report takes a look at the key themes expected to shape the European olefins, aromatics and polymers markets.

The emergence of the US as a major exporter has rapidly transformed the way the global LNG industry operates, but its economic success will not come without challenges, first and foremost from a potential bottleneck at the Panama Canal.

S&P Global Platts delves into China's current policy direction – now reinforced under a more strongly empowered President Xi Jinping – and its wider implications for global energy and commodity markets.

Ongoing production curtailments appear to be the "new normal" in China's steel industry. This is spurring the growth of new electric arc furnace capacity, much of which is being brought on in place of the traditional steelmaking route. S&P Global Platts examines how this may affect scrap usage and iron ore imports.

Pricing in metallurgial or coking coal markets has entered a distinct new phase. Increased spot market activity, the use of futures and hedging, and the adoption of different price structures in coking coal are all part of longer-term trends that are transforming the market globally, in a way not unlike the changes seen in the iron ore market earlier this decade.

As new polymer capacities come online in the US Gulf Coast region, logistics players, from ports to packagers to railroads, are stepping up to get the resin moving.

This report provides an illustrated overview of the current state of the Taiwan petrochemicals market, including trade flows and interactions with other regional and global markets for olefins, polyolefins, aromatics, and polyethylene.

We explore the effects that China's growing exposure to spot LNG fundamentals and prices may have on domestic gas sector policies and international supply agreements.

S&P Global Platts investigates the potential impact on energy and metals markets from dramatic changes sweeping the transport sector, led by electric vehicles but also including other alternative fuels, autonomous vehicles, policy and changes in consumer behavior. This special report includes insight from across S&P Global and interviews with thought leaders from OPEC, Rio Tinto and Groupe PSA.

As crude production in the North Sea continues to evolve, its role in an increasingly globalized market has started to shift, having an impact on Dated Brent and its position as a global oil benchmark. In this report, S&P Global Platts delves into the dynamics affecting the North Sea and Northwest Europe crude markets and the continuing evolution of Dated Brent. 

In this S&P Global Platts special report, we examine the key forces driving commoditization in the global liquefied natural gas sector, and the actions LNG industry stakeholders are taking to capture opportunities in this fast-changing business landscape.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, is set to have a significant impact on energy and commodities in the coming decades, as the region’s demand climbs due to favorable geography and demographics. Find out more about this shift and how it will affect key commodities such as oil, coal, petrochemicals, metals, electricity and LNG in our special report.

The International Maritime Organization's decision to tighten sulfur limits on bunker fuel has left shipowners with a dilemma they continue to brush aside. S&P Global Platts weighs up the options and the implications for the shipping industry, the market and refiners as the 2020 deadline approaches.

The Indian government's "Make in India" campaign aims to boost manufacturing's share of the economy from 16% to 25% by 2025. The push to expand manufacturing will trigger a massive requirement for oil, gas and other resources. Find out more about the opportunities and challenges facing India's commodities landscape in our special report.

The world is becoming an ever smaller place and the ability to conduct business with the most competitive companies globally is paramount for survival. The emphasis on customer needs now provides competitive advantage, and in the case of the container market, this may present opportunities for smaller TEU vessels for niche arbitrages in commodities like sugar, scrap or petrochemicals. Can the abandoned smaller TEU vessels become the workhorse for the customer focused container market?