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March 12 - According to foreign media reports, Saudi Arabia's largest oil shipping company is chartering tankers at extremely high freight rates, with a massive fleet heading to the Red Sea to load the country's crude oil, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. According to charter lists, Saudi National Shipping Company (Bahri) has recently chartered at least six Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) to transport crude oil from the western port of Yanbu. A shipbroker and two shipowners believe the actual scale of the charterings may be even larger, with more deals likely to occur in the coming days. With exports from the Strait of Hormuz effectively halted, Saudi Arabia is accelerating efforts to divert supplies to the Red Sea via a pipeline. Many of the charter deals Bahri has secured are priced at 450 Worldscale points, equivalent to over $450,000 per day. Before the war, the industry benchmark freight rate never exceeded $300,000 per day.

On March 12th, a symposium on the work of the Beijing Municipal Economic and Information Technology System was held on March 11th. The meeting emphasized that this year marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and the economic and information technology system must further strengthen its sense of responsibility and earnestly and diligently implement all tasks to the highest standards. The meeting stressed the need to: ensure stable growth, expand the positive momentum of the industrial economy, and strive to achieve a strong start in the first quarter and meet the annual targets; ensure the planning and implementation of major projects to solidify the hard support for industrial development; strengthen the leading role of enterprises in innovation and promote the construction of industrial innovation centers and pilot-scale testing ecosystems; focus on forward-looking planning for future industries, strengthen factor guarantees, and cultivate new economic growth points; promote industrial upgrading and achieve intelligent and green development; leverage artificial intelligence to activate new vitality in the development of the digital economy; promote the construction of the "six chains and five clusters" to deepen industrial synergy in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region; and improve enterprise services to create a first-class business environment.

A spokesperson for the European Commission stated that a proposal has been made to send a delegation to Ukraine to inspect the Friendship Pipeline.

On March 12th, Monex Europe analysts stated in a report that the US dollar is likely to continue to receive support in the short term unless there are credible signs of de-escalation in the Iran-Iraq conflict. The conflict is driving safe-haven flows into the dollar. The war has led to higher oil prices and reinforced market expectations that the Federal Reserve will maintain its tight monetary policy for longer than previously anticipated, thus supporting the dollar. However, in the longer term, the market "underestimates the potential extent of US policy easing after energy price concerns begin to subside, which also means the dollar faces downside risks."

Market news: Microsoft and Meta are driving a $700 billion surge in the data center leasing market.

A spokesperson for the European Commission stated that the EU does not currently view any pressing concerns regarding the security of its oil supply.

March 12th - In a report, Paul Dales of Capital Economics stated that the Bank of England is more likely to postpone interest rate cuts than cancel them altogether. The Middle East wars have caused energy prices to surge and raised concerns about high inflation, prompting investors to lower their expectations for rate cuts. LSEG data shows that the UK money market is currently pricing in only a 5% probability of a rate cut by the Bank of England at its policy meeting on March 19th, compared to 83% before the outbreak of the Middle East wars. Capital Economics expects the Bank of England to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.75% in its March, April, and June rate decisions.

On March 12th, Carsten Brzeski and Franziska Biehl of ING Bank stated in a report that soaring oil prices have begun to impact household spending in the Eurozone at gas stations. Since the start of the Iran-Iraq War, the price of a tank of unleaded gasoline in Germany has increased by €13. Even before this week's price surge, the cost of a standard tank of fuel in several major Eurozone economies had already returned to 2022 levels. While this impact is not expected to last long, it could still put pressure on already weak consumer confidence. Analysts stated, "Given the old adage that 'oil prices rise like rockets and fall like feathers,' it's not just confidence that's being impacted, but also actual purchasing power."

U.S. Energy Secretary Wright: Short-term disruptions are necessary to achieve long-term energy security.

U.S. Energy Secretary Wright: Withdrawals from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) will be carried out through an exchange mechanism, with the oil being returned to the reserve.

Polish central bank official Janczyk: The monetary policy committee will continue to take a wait-and-see approach in the coming months.

U.S. Energy Secretary Wright: This release of oil reserves will not incur any fees for U.S. taxpayers.

U.S. Energy Secretary Wright: The Strait of Hormuz needs to be reopened.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index erased its earlier losses.

The French government announced that some fuel prices will be reduced by €0.10 to €0.30 per liter.