Coronavirus triggers turmoil in global gas market | Financial Times:
The coronavirus outbreak has thrown the global gas market into turmoil with Chinese importers threatening to cancel up to 70 per cent of seaborne imports in February as demand collapses and companies struggle to staff ports.
The move by China, the world’s second-largest importer of liquefied natural gas, has sent prices to their lowest level on record and sparked a row with suppliers, which claim the Chinese companies are breaching their contracts to secure lower prices on the spot market.
The stand-off is the latest sign of the economic damage being wreaked by the coronavirus outbreak, which is expected to curtail global growth as large parts of the world’s second-largest economy essentially are in lockdown.
Lower gas prices are a potential boon for manufacturers and consumers but a problem for energy companies, which have warned of a big hit to profits in the first half of this year.
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