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Asia midday crude futures: Ice Brent edges lower
31 July (Argus) — Ice Brent crude futures posted minor losses in early Asian trading hours, on the back of a mix of new tariffs and sanctions from the US.
At 04:00 GMT, the Ice front-month September Brent contract was at $73.10/bl, lower by 14¢/bl from its settlement on 30 July when the contract ended 73¢/bl higher.
The Nymex front-month September crude contract was at $69.92/bl, down by 8¢/bl from its settlement on 30 July when the contract ended 79¢/bl higher.
Trump previously set a 1 August deadline for the tariffs, but the executive order signed on 30 July sets the effective date at "12:01am ET seven days after the day of this order", which would be 6 August. The order includes a grace period for items shipped before 6 August and arriving in the US before 5 October.
US imports from Brazil were already subject to a 10pc rate since 5 April. The new executive order preserves previously granted exemptions for energy commodities and several other products.
Trump, in a series of social media posts on Wednesday, threatened to raise the US tariff rate on imports from India to 25pc beginning on 1 August and to apply an additional, unspecified "penalty" on Indian goods.
India's tariffs "are far too high, among the highest in the World", Trump posted. "They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!"
The pressure of potential US tariffs coupled with the latest EU sanctions have pushed at least three Indian state-run refiners to [consider cutting] imports of Russian crude](/integration/newsandanalysis/article/2715830), sources with knowledge of the matter told Argus.
It is unclear whether the refiners are considering a full halt to Russian crude imports. Russia accounted for around 37pc of India's total crude intake over the past 12 months, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa.
The US Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 62 vessels and 73 shipping and trading companies allegedly forming part of a network established by the family of an influential politician in Iran to transport Iranian and Russian oil to China.
The Treasury called the action its largest Iran-related sanctions package since 2018, but what stands out also is the wider geography of entities added to the US sanctions list. The network, which the Treasury said is tied to the son of former Iranian defense minister Ali Shimkhani, included front companies in several western European countries, in addition to the UAE, Hong Kong and China.
31 July (Argus) — Ice Brent crude futures posted minor losses in early Asian trading hours, on the back of a mix of new tariffs and sanctions from the US.
At 04:00 GMT, the Ice front-month September Brent contract was at $73.10/bl, lower by 14¢/bl from its settlement on 30 July when the contract ended 73¢/bl higher.
The Nymex front-month September crude contract was at $69.92/bl, down by 8¢/bl from its settlement on 30 July when the contract ended 79¢/bl higher.
US president Donald Trump signed an executive order to implement a 50pc tariff on Brazilian imports effective 6 August.
Trump previously set a 1 August deadline for the tariffs, but the executive order signed on 30 July sets the effective date at "12:01am ET seven days after the day of this order", which would be 6 August. The order includes a grace period for items shipped before 6 August and arriving in the US before 5 October.
US imports from Brazil were already subject to a 10pc rate since 5 April. The new executive order preserves previously granted exemptions for energy commodities and several other products.
Trump, in a series of social media posts on Wednesday, threatened to raise the US tariff rate on imports from India to 25pc beginning on 1 August and to apply an additional, unspecified "penalty" on Indian goods.
India's tariffs "are far too high, among the highest in the World", Trump posted. "They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!"
The pressure of potential US tariffs coupled with the latest EU sanctions have pushed at least three Indian state-run refiners to [consider cutting] imports of Russian crude](/integration/newsandanalysis/article/2715830), sources with knowledge of the matter told Argus.
It is unclear whether the refiners are considering a full halt to Russian crude imports. Russia accounted for around 37pc of India's total crude intake over the past 12 months, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa.
The US Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 62 vessels and 73 shipping and trading companies allegedly forming part of a network established by the family of an influential politician in Iran to transport Iranian and Russian oil to China.
The Treasury called the action its largest Iran-related sanctions package since 2018, but what stands out also is the wider geography of entities added to the US sanctions list. The network, which the Treasury said is tied to the son of former Iranian defense minister Ali Shimkhani, included front companies in several western European countries, in addition to the UAE, Hong Kong and China.
By YouLiang Chay