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1.16004
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Gold
4461.96
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Oil
103.181
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158.902
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1.33929
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212.819
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Real-time News
On May 20th, Futures News reported that the domestic urea market maintained a relatively strong trend from January to April. While price reductions were anticipated in advance of May, the actual decline far exceeded industry expectations, with some producers lowering their ex-factory prices by as much as 100 yuan/ton from their April highs. Amidst this continued weakening trend, a wait-and-see attitude prevailed, with a strong "buy high, sell low" mentality, resulting in generally weak purchasing activity among traders. As of May 19th, the average price of small and medium-sized urea granules in China in May was approximately 1873.68 yuan/ton, down 0.78% from April and down 2.05% year-on-year. In terms of supply, the overall daily output of domestic urea is mainly 210,000-220,000 tons, higher than the same period in previous years. Manufacturer inventories fell to a relatively low level in April, but increased due to slower sales in May, easing the tight supply situation. Currently, demand is in a temporary off-season, with agricultural demand not yet fully released. A moderate rebound in industrial and agricultural demand is expected in June. In addition, exports remain one of the important factors affecting the mentality of business operators. Due to the expectation of increased export quotas in the later period, there may be a slight downward exploration in the short term to find the bottom, and some areas may gradually stabilize and wait and see.On May 20th, data from the Securities Industry Association of Japan showed that overseas investors net sold 81.3 billion yen (approximately $512 million) of ultra-long-term Japanese government bonds in April, marking the first net outflow since December 2024. Following the Bank of Japans normalization of monetary policy, overseas investors have gained increasing influence in the bond market. Rising borrowing costs have kept policymakers on edge, with Finance Minister Katayama hinting at monitoring market conditions in May while considering supplementary budgets. Shinichiro Kadota, head of foreign exchange and interest rate strategy at Barclays Japan, stated that the foreign sell-off "highlights the vulnerability of the Japanese bond market." " Coupled with concerns about fiscal expansion and the central banks lagging curve, the sell-off is pushing up yields." This week, the yield on Japans benchmark 30-year government bond climbed to its highest level since its inception in 1999. Meanwhile, traditional investors in ultra-long-term bonds, life and property insurance companies, were net buyers of 327.2 billion yen of ultra-long-term bonds last month, becoming net buyers for the first time since July of last year.On May 20, President Xi Jinping held a ceremony at the East Gate Square of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin on his visit to China.The Korean Labor Council: It is uncertain whether further negotiations will take place before the strike.On May 20th, Futures reported that since mid-to-late April, the Shandong civil gas market has been caught in a dilemma, consolidating within a narrow range, with prices fluctuating mainly between 6300-6500 yuan/ton. The price increase was hampered primarily by weak demand: rising temperatures led to a slowdown in combustion demand, coupled with concentrated maintenance shutdowns at deep-processing plants such as isobutane dehydrogenation plants, resulting in a significant decline in chemical demand. Some chemical resources were forced to flow back into the combustion market, increasing supply pressure. The key support preventing a price decline came from the opening of an arbitrage window for resource outflows: Due to maintenance shutdowns and tight port supplies in the south, the price difference between Shandong and the south widened, opening out outflow channels and providing a floor for local prices. In addition, high crude oil prices provided cost support, while weak MTBE and poor dehydrogenation profits created a reverse restraint. In the short term, chemical demand continues to decline, and resource outflows may be suppressed, leading to expectations of a price decline; however, some maintenance units are expected to resume operations at the end of the month and beginning of the next, gradually restoring chemical demand. It is expected that the room for a deep price drop is limited, and a subsequent rebound is still possible.
