China’s ongoing COVID crisis is one of the key events driving commodity markets, reports Platts.
COVID restrictions hinder economy
Widespread restrictions in several key cities as Beijing sticks to its zero-COVID strategy are threatening the country’s economic growth outlook.
A slowdown in oil and gas demand is widely expected, though steel might hold up as fiscal stimulus is driven towards property and infrastructure.
“We have revised down China’s oil demand to almost no growth this year owing to the demand loss in Q2. It remains uncertain whether demand loss in Q2 will be compensated by demand recovery in H2. That will increase the possibility of further downward revisions,” said Wang Zhuwei, S&P Global Commodity Insights’ Asia oil analytics manager.
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Source: Platts
