South African coal exports surged to 2.3 Mt/wk, up +42% WoW and +60% YoY, benefiting from post-monsoon demand recovery and winter restocking across Asia, alongside constrained Indonesian supply.
China’s domestic methanol production helped offset the decline in global trade caused by disruptions to Middle Eastern exports.
Our 2023 thesis that declining domestic mining would drive China’s bauxite and iron ore imports has gained momentum in 2026, with iron ore mining contracting far faster than consumption.
New addition to IG’s Commodities 360 series provides comprehensive analysis of global thermal and metallurgical coal markets, trade flows and shipping demand.
China’s trade surplus hit a record 133B$ in Sep’26 (+50% YoY), bringing Jan–Sep close to 1T$ (+7.9% YoY).
US wheat exports remain stuck at unusually low levels. Exports slipped to 0.3Mt/wk in the week ending 1-Oct, -10% WoW and -49% YoY.
South African coal exports climbed to 1.8 Mt/wk in the week ending 27-Sep, +28% WoW and +29% YoY, a fresh five-year seasonal high and close to the four-year peak of 1.9 Mt/wk.
China’s vehicle exports reached 1.05M units in Aug’26, +37.6% YoY, holding above 1M mark for a third month.
Indonesian coal exports fell to 37Mt in Aug’26 (-22% YoY), their weakest August since 2021.
Chinese state-owned trading houses have bought ~11Mt of U.S. soybeans since the latest China–US meeting in May’26, putting China on track toward of earlier commitments to purchase at least 25Mt annually through 2028.
Rising bunker prices and the introduction of UK ETS costs are expected to push tanker flat rates higher in 2027.
US steel prices have climbed steadily through 2026 as firm demand has met constrained domestic supply and lower imports.
India’s coal stocks at linkage coal-fired power plants fell to 28.2Mt as of 24-Aug, down -40% YoY, extending the drawdown from 38Mt at end-Jul’26.
China’s soybean inventories at ports rose to a record 9.2Mt last week, up +0.1Mt or…
With bauxite inventories in China holding below 35 Mt for nearly a month, bauxite prices rising — first in China in Jul’26, then…
Tanker ordering has reached record levels in 2026, but with much of the existing fleet ageing, rising newbuilding activity comes against a growing need for fleet renewal.
Last Friday, Chinese buyers purchased at least 13 cargoes (0.8Mt) of new-crop U.S. soybeans, bringing total 2026/27 season purchases to around 5Mt.
Indonesian coal loadings fell to 10.2Mt/wk last week, down -18% YoY and -18% MoM, reaching a 2026 low and approaching a 3-year low.
Ongoing disruptions in the Middle East Gulf are reshaping methanol and glycol trade flows. But what do these changes mean for chemical tanker utilisation?
Guinea’s bauxite loadings slumped to 1.3 Mt/wk last week, down -50% WoW and -38% YoY.
