1. Colonial Pipeline has restarted its entire pipeline system

May 13, 2021

Colonial Pipeline has restarted its entire pipeline system and has begun deliveries in all of its markets. However, it will take several days for shipments to return to normal along its 5,500 mile (8,850 km) route. This pipeline which carries 100 million gallons per day of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, resumed computer-controlled pumping late Wednesday after adding safety measures. On Thursday about 70% of gas stations in North Carolina were without fuel, while around 50% of stations in Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia had outages.

Source: Reuters

2. EIA forecast Brent oil prices to be $62.3 per barrel in 2021

May 14, 2021

The US Department of Energy has kept the forecast for the price of Brent crude oil in 2021 at $62.3 per barrel, according to a report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy. The agency expects that Brent oil prices in Q2 will be $65.0 per barrel and in the second half of 2021, the price will drop to $61.0 per barrel on average. In 2022, according to the ministry, the price of Brent oil will be set at $60.7 per barrel. The price of WTI crude oil is projected at $58.9 per barrel in 2021 and $56.99 per barrel in 2022.

Source: Reuters

3. U.S. consumer prices climbed in April by the most since 2009

May 12, 2021

U.S. consumer prices climbed in April by the most since 2009, intensifying the already-heated debate about how long inflationary pressures will last. Rate traders responded by boosting bets that the Fed may be forced to hike interest rates next year. The consumer price index soared 0.8% to match the biggest monthly increase since 2009, the government said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal had forecasted a milder 0.2% advance. The rate of inflation over the past year jumped to 4.2% from 2.6% in the prior month — the highest level since 2008.

Source: Bloomberg

4. US on verge of moving from recovery to expansion: Fed's Bullard

May 13, 2021

U.S. economic output will hit a new high by the end of June, a return to the pre-pandemic peak far ahead of the dire predictions of last year, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Thursday. Real gross domestic product hit a high of $19.2 trillion at the end of 2019. For the first three months of 2021 it was $19 trillion on an annualized basis, putting the United States close to completing its recovery from the pandemic downturn.

Source: Reuters

5. Euro zone growth outlook still modest, inflation to lag US

May 13, 2021

The economic growth outlook for the euro zone this year is unchanged from last month, which was the lowest expected rate since early in the pandemic, a Reuters poll showed, while inflationary pressures were seen lagging the United States. For the full year, the consensus of nearly 75 economists in the May 10-13 poll showed 4.1% average growth for the euro zone, the same as last month, which was the lowest prediction for 2021 since a poll in April last year, when the pandemic began to take hold.

Source: Reuters

6. Japan is not considering compiling extra budget to respond to coronavirus

May 13, 2021

Japan's government is not considering crafting a supplementary budget to respond to the coronavirus pandemic immediately given there's still money left to tap in the emergency budget reserve, Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday. Prior to it, the cabinet decided to spend 512 billion yen ($4.67 billion) in the budget reserve to secure coronavirus vaccines to contain the spread of the COVID-19 infections.

Source: Reuters

7. U.S. weekly jobless claims at 14-month low

May 13, 2021

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a 14-month low last week as companies held onto their workers amid a growing labor shortage that helped to curb employment growth in April. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 473,000 for the week ended May 8, the Labor Department said. That was the lowest since mid-March 2020, when mandatory closures of nonessential businesses were enforced to slow the first wave of COVID-19 infections. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 490,000 applications for the latest week. The decrease in claims was led by Michigan, New York and Florida.

Source: Reuters

8. OPEC expects higher demand for its crude

May 12, 2021

OPEC kept its demand forecast unchanged for the year at 96.46 million b/d, a rise of 5.95 million b/d from 2020; it said most of the growth will happen in the back half of the year. The organization raised its global economic growth forecast for 2021 by 0.1 percentage points to 5.5% year on year, citing stimulus measures in the US and accelerating recovery in Asian countries. On the supply side, non-OPEC countries are now expected to produce 63.60 million b/d in 2021, a year-on-year rise of 700,000 b/d.

Source: hellenicshippingnews