Look across commodities, the supply chain, and around the globe, all from one source. By basing your analysis on Platts comprehensive and integrated coverage, you’ll be able to account for growing market complexity.
Note: This information is from Update #24 from the Platts Coronavirus Dashboard for Energy Demand released on March 16, 2020. This information is updated daily for subscribers.
Platts Analytics monitors daily European data on natural gas consumption. Our analysis shows how the visible coronavirus impact on Italian gas demand continues to grow and can now also be seen in industry in France. It should become evident in regions across Western Europe as more stringent measures to combat coronavirus spread come into force in the coming days and weeks, and we forecast that overall European industrial demand will out-turn almost 10% lower in April and May.
WIth the weather-adjusted daily electricity load data for Europe that we highlighted ina recent issue, we can also expect to see continued demand destruction, especially in Italy.
Headlines out of China have continued to be encouraging. First, and most importantly, the number of new coronavirus cases dropped significantly – it was actually zero on March 22.
The number of vehicles on highways continued to be above a year-ago levels. China further loosened regulations on small-enterprise resuming operation – according to a press release from China’s State Council, individual industrial and commercial households that meet the requirements for the resumption of work may carry out their work according to law without specifically seeking approval.
As of March 20, 120,000 migrant workers have departed Hubei Province, the area hit hardest by the coronavirus, in designated trains. Authorities in Hubei also decided to resume operations of buses and subways. But at the same time, Chinese policymakers have apparently become increasingly concerned about a possible second wave of the coronavirus spreading. They appear particularly worried about cases outside of China entering China. So starting on Monday, all international flights to Beijing must first divert to one of the 12 designated entry points in other cities, and passengers must go through virus screenings. Airports in Shanghai and Guangzhou also introduced testing regimes for international passengers.Finally, it was announced that the 127th spring Canton fair will not be held as scheduled on April 15, according to press release from Guangdong province. The Canton fair is a prestigious and important platform for companies involved in China's foreign trade. So while the situation has been normalizing in China, it has not recovered to a point where China can host a large-scale gathering of international attendees.
In South Korea, like in China, news about the number of new coronavirus cases has been increasingly encouraging. In the last day, there were 64 new cases, which was the fewest since the peak in late February.
In Japan, the situation is not quite under control – there were 16 new cases in densely populated Tokyo yesterday (taking Japanese capital city’s total to 152), hinting that there may be more cases there. Japan put even tighter restrictions on entries from foreign countries – for example, those coming from the U.S. will now be required to self-quarantine for 14 days after their arrivals to Japan.
Others also announced more restrictions:
Platts Analytics helps you to stay ahead of your competition with access to forecasts and analysis that factors in emerging analytical capabilities to your market analysis.
Asia Pacific LNG demand continues to be remarkably resilient so far this year despite the strong year-over-year declines in China, which had previously been the main growth engine for regional demand in the previous few years. However, as the COVID-19 outbreak starts to hit other Asian markets, there are already signs of weakening regional demand, which is tracking closer to year-ago levels in recent weeks.
Countries in South Asia such as India or Pakistan could revert back to using liquids products amid the oil price crash instead of spot LNG, which would weigh on demand significantly and effectively wipe out the growth in regional demand this year.
JKM has seen significant downward pressure further out on the curve, indicating a lack of buying interest outside of prompt delivery, which further indicates the demand destruction coming this summer.
In depth coverage of each commodity and across regions saves you the time of gathering together data from various sources. With a single source for your commodity analysis you will be able to focus more on interpreting patterns and making the right moves.
Read more: Platts Global Oil Analytics Service