Chevron Workers Begin Industrial Action at Australian Natural-Gas Plants -- Commodities Roundup

MARKET MOVEMENTS:

-- Brent crude oil is up 0.6% at $90.44 a barrel.

-- European benchmark gas is 9.8% higher at EUR35.95 a megawatt hour.

-- Gold futures are up 0.3% at $1,948.90 a troy ounce.

-- LME three-month copper futures are down 0.8% at $8,236.50 a metric ton.

-- Wheat futures are down 0.4% to $5.97 a bushel.

TOP STORY:

Chevron Workers Begin Industrial Action at Australian Natural-Gas Plants

Workers at two large natural-gas plants run by Chevron in Australia began industrial action Friday, intensifying a dispute that has rattled global gas markets.

A week of talks between Chevron and staff at its Gorgon and Wheatstone liquefied-natural-gas facilities had failed to produce an agreement on issues such as pay. Industrial action had originally been planned to start on Thursday but was delayed to allow the talks to continue.

Offshore Alliance, a partnership of two local unions, said the action had started at 1 p.m. local time in Perth, Western Australia's capital. It would include work bans and short stoppages ahead of a two-week walkout starting Sept. 14, it said.

Chevron said it had negotiated in good faith but couldn't accept the demands sought by representatives of the around 500 workers.

--

OTHER STORIES:

Food Prices Fell in August, But Rice Prices Hit 15-Year High

Food prices fell in August as a strong supply of wheat, corn and other key foodstuffs helped to lower global food commodity prices, but risks remain for rice, the cost of which jumped after the introduction of Indian export restrictions, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said Friday.

The UN FAO's food price index, which tracks global prices for a basket of staple foods, averaged 121.4 points in August, down 2.1% from July, putting prices 24% lower than the March 2022 peak. The Rome-based body said that much of the decline was led by lower dairy and vegetable oil prices helping to ease inflation worries for policy makers.

That said, the UN FAO highlighted skyrocketing prices for rice, with its price index up 9.8% during the month--hitting a 15-year high--following significant trade disruptions after India introduced a ban on exports for Indica white rice.

--

Offshore Wind Companies Shun U.K. Projects Amid Mounting Costs

The latest round of the U.K. government's flagship renewable-energy auction failed to attract any bids for offshore wind projects, a sign of the mounting pressures on the industry despite its key role in the energy transition.

The bidding round approved 95 renewable-energy projects, which marked a record, the U.K. government said, but none were for offshore or floating wind projects.

That comes as the industry has been battling with surging input costs that have disrupted projects from Europe to the U.S. In the U.K., wind turbine makers have warned that the government's offer of a guaranteed price for the electricity produced by renewable projects wasn't generous enough to make offshore-wind schemes financially viable.

--

MARKET TALKS:

Palm Oil Closes Lower Amid High Production and Inventory

1011 GMT - Palm oil edged lower amid bearish momentum among vegetable oils, following sharply lower soybean oil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade. The market is under pressure on estimates of a steep rise in Malaysian palm oil inventory at the end of August on the back of double-digit growth in production, Anilkumar Bagani, commodity research head at Sunvin Group, said in a research note. The Malaysian Palm Oil Association, a group of growers, estimates that production in August likely climbed 11% on month. Official supply data will be published by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board on Monday. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for October delivery was MYR6 lower at MYR3,826 a ton. ([e-mail])

--

European Natural Gas Price Rises as Australian LNG Strikes Begin

0818 GMT - European natural gas prices have risen after workers at two LNG facilities in Australia began strike action. Benchmark prices jumped in early trading but then pared gains and were last up 5.7% to EUR34.60 a megawatt hour. They nonetheless remain close to their lows of recent weeks as concerns about the impending strike have made the market highly volatile. The strike, taken by an alliance of unions at two Chevron facilities in Australia, was planned to start Thursday but was delayed for talks to continue. The strikes so far are partial stoppages but are planned to escalate to 24-hour rolling strikes after Sept. 14. The two facilities account for 7% of global LNG supplies and any strike is expected to prompt stronger competition for the remaining cargos between Asian and European consumers. ([e-mail])

--

Metals Set For Weekly Loss on China Worries

0752 GMT - Base metals are lower, adding to across the board weekly losses as China's economic data underwhelms. LME three-month copper prices decline 0.6% to $8,257 a metric ton and are set for a weekly loss of 2.8%. Aluminum is also down 0.9% at $2,176.50 a metric ton, putting it on course for a 2.7% weekly loss. China's sluggish economy has weighed on hopes for metals demand this week. China's service sector grew at its slowest pace in eight months, PMI data showed, while the nation's imports and exports both dropped. "Industrial metals continue to face headwinds from weak activity in Mainland China," says BMI Research, in a note. ([e-mail])

--

Oil Set for Weekly Rise on Saudi Supply Cuts

0750 GMT - Oil prices edge lower but are on course for a second weekly gain after Saudi Arabia and Russia roll over their supply curbs. Brent crude oil is down 0.3% at $89.64 but set for a weekly rise of 1.2%. WTI also edges down 0.5% to $86.46 but is on course for a weekly gain of 1.1%. Saudi Arabia's extension of its one million barrel-a-day supply cut until the end of the year should prompt a deficit of more than 1.5 million barrels a day in the fourth quarter of the year, UBS says in a note. That, coupled with falling inventories, should push Brent price to $95 a barrel by the end of the year, the bank says. ([e-mail])

--

Global Cocoa Prices to Keep Rising as Supplies Tighten

0545 GMT - Tightening supplies will continue to support cocoa prices as heavy rains exacerbate concerns about bean quality ahead of the main harvest across West Africa, says BMI. In Ivory Coast, the world's No. 1 cocoa grower, excess rainfall has aided the spread of cocoa swollen shoot virus, which will likely cut output to 2.2 million tons from the 2.3 million forecast previously. BMI has revised its cocoa-price projections for the third time this year, and now expects prices to average $3,100 a ton. That compares with a June forecast of $2,700. Cocoa markets will likely plunge into a supply deficit of 92,000 tons, marking the second consecutive season of deficit, an outcome last seen in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, BMI notes. ([e-mail])

Write to Barcelona Editors at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-08-23 0642ET