Commodities & Futures News

By Devika Krishna KumarNEW YORK China said on Friday it would impose tariffs on U.S. crude oil imports for the first time, sending prices down nearly 4% to two-week lows as the escalating bilateral trade war fed worries over a slowdown in global oil demand.Beijing said crude would be among the U.S. products hit by tariffs of 5% as of Sept. 1. U.S.

WASHINGTON Hours after China announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods on Friday, President Donald Trump ordered U.S. companies to "start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.".The stakes are high: U.S. companies invested a total of $256 billion in China between 1990 and

By Marianna ParragaThe two new top executives at Citgo Petroleum PDVSAC.UL disclosed this week that net income in the second quarter slid to less than half its level a year earlier, hit by a broad slump for the refining industry as well as complications from U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Citgo's split with state-run oil company PDVSA.Chief Execu

HOUSTON China's threat on Friday to slap a 5% tariff on U.S. oil imports could further soften demand for physical crude at hubs along the U.S. Gulf Coast, where exporters already have taken to shipping crude overseas without firm buyers, traders said.PADD 3 inventories last week rose to the highest in a month, at 225.1 million barrels, and were 12

By Anthony BoadleBRASILIA Uncontrolled fires sweeping through the Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) rainforest could scuttle Brazil's chances of becoming a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), worried business leaders said on Friday.The surge in fires has alarmed environmentalists who blame right-wing President Jair Bols

. By Barani It didn’t go quite the way markets thought, but the longs in gold weren’t complaining.Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell’s decision to leave markets in suspense over the central bank’s upcoming rate moves ought to have led to lower gold prices on Friday. But China’s announcement of new tariffs on U.S. products and President Donald Trump’s

. By Barani – It was bad enough that Fed Chair Jay Powell decided not to give investors a clue on where he thought interest rates were headed.China and President Donald Trump had to make it a one-two punch for oil and other markets on Friday. China announced a new 10% tariff on $75 billion of U.S. products, including crude, and President Trump got mad and announc

. App looks to get tips from coffee drinkers to Colombia growers By Julia Symmes CobbBOGOTA An app that sends money in the form of tips from appreciative caffeine devotees around the world to coffee growers in Colombia could help farmers battered by dismal prices earn more income, the initiative's founder said.Many growers in the Andean country, the world

By Corina Pons and Mayela ArmasCARACAS From supermarket checkouts in the capital Caracas to electronics stores in the central city of Maracay, Venezuelans struggling with hyperinflation and a deep economic crisis are turning to a new form of payment: euros in cash.Runaway inflation that has made even large piles of the local bolivar currency worth

. Gold prices turned higher on Friday after China announced retaliatory tariffs oU.S., increasing demand for the safe-haven precious metal ahead of a widely anticipated speech from Federal Reserve President Jerome Powell.Spot gold gained $6.54, or 0.4%, to $1,504.66 a troy ounce by 9:24 AM ET (13:24 GMT), while gold futures for December delivery on the Comex divis

. Libya's state oil firm demands pay rise for workers BENGHAZI, Libya Libya's state oil firm NOC has demanded a pay rise of 67% for its workers which it plans to discuss with the Tripoli government next week, the company said in a statement said on Friday.The company's demand followed a protest at the El Sharara oilfield, the country's biggest, over pay a

. Oil prices traded slightly lower on Friday as markets prepped for a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped just 2 cents, nearly unchanged on a percentage basis, to $55.33 a barrel by 7:44 AM ET (11:44 GMT), while Brent crude futures, the benchmark fo

. Pump Prices Could Fall Below $2 in the U.S. South, Analysts Say -- Pending a hurricane, it might get a lot cheaper to head out to big college football games this fall across the southern U.S.GasBuddy fuels analyst Patrick DeHaan said about 100 of the nation’s 150,000 gas stations have regular unleaded below $2 per gallon this week. He said the number

. FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: European Union leaders summit in Brussels DUBLIN As wildfires rage through the Brazilian Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said Dublin will vote against a trade deal between the European Union and South American trade bloc Mercosur unless Brazil takes action to protect the rainforest. The Irish Independe

DUBLIN Ireland will try to block a free trade deal between the European Union and South American Mercosur bloc unless Brazil takes action to protect the Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) rainforest, Irish Prime Minister Leo Vardakar was quoted as saying on Friday.Irish Independent reported that Varadkar was very concerned at the record levels of rainforest des

. FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks operate at sunset in an oil field in Midland, Texas By Florence Tan SINGAPORE Oil prices clawed back the previous day's losses on Friday, with Brent nudging above $60 a barrel, as tighter supplies from key producers offset slowing demand growth and investors await clues on the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy. Brent crude (

. FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks operate at sunset in an oil field in Midland, Texas By Florence Tan SINGAPORE Oil prices clawed back the previous day's losses on Friday, with Brent nudging above $60 a barrel, as tighter supplies from key producers offset slowing demand growth and investors await clues on the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy. Brent crude (

. Gold prices traded lower on Friday in Asia ahead of the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole Symposium, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to provide clarity on future monetary easing plans.Gold Futures for December delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, fell 0.2% to $1,504.85 by 1:11 AM ET (05:11 GMT).Markets curr

BEIJING China's coal demand will start to fall in 2025 once consumption at utilities and other industrial sectors reaches its peak, a state-owned think tank said in a new report, easing pressure on Beijing to impose tougher curbs on fossil fuels.The world's biggest coal consumer is expected to see total consumption fall 18% from 2018 to 2035, and

KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday said linking the production of palm oil to deforestation was "baseless, unfair and unjustified", and that the industry has grown responsibly.Malaysia is the world's second-biggest producer of palm oil, a widely consumed commodity used in everything from chocolate spread to lipstick.

. Oil prices gained on Friday in Asia, but price movements were limited as traders await a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to give more clues on U.S. monetary policy."Oil is set to trade quietly today as it's all about the Jackson Hole (meeting) tonight," Jeffrey Halley, a Singapore-based senior market analyst at brokerage Oanda, told in

By Florence TanSINGAPORE Oil prices clawed back the previous day's losses on Friday, with Brent nudging above $60 a barrel, as tighter supplies from key producers offset slowing demand growth while investors await clues from the Federal Reserve on U.S. monetary policy.Brent crude (LCOc1) rose 10 cents to $60.02 a barrel by 0118 GMT, while U.S. cru

-- Top Trump administration officials met Thursday to consider options for quelling a backlash in politically important farm states over recent biofuel policy moves, including revoking waivers given to some oil refineries from requirements they use renewable fuel such as corn-based ethanol.The Agriculture Department pushed that idea in the meeting

-- Oil erased losses as investors anticipated that the Federal Reserve would signal an interest rate cut Friday.Futures were back above $55 a barrel on Friday after falling as much as 1.1%. Traders are balancing fears about slowing economies in Europe and China and demand concerns in the U.S.Investors are anticipating Federal Reserve Chair Jerome

By Laila KearneyPHILADELPHIA A biofuels producer said on Thursday it is proposing to acquire the fire-damaged Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery and convert it to make renewable diesel and jet fuels.S.G. Preston Co is the first company to identify itself as a potential buyer of the refinery, the oldest and largest on the East Coast. PES's owne