According to the Commodity Exchange of Vietnam (MXV), the prices of base metals are gradually receiving better signals after a period of pressure from both macro factors and actual consumer demand. 

This positive trend will likely be maintained shortly, especially with the need to fill up stockpiles to serve the positive outlook on demand in the Chinese market. Real estate in China is also showing signs of stabilizing, which will be a bright spot for the consumption of metals in the construction sector, thereby supporting copper or iron prices.

In the domestic market, according to statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in the first 15 days of February, our country exported more than 303,000 tons of iron and steel of all kinds, earning a turnover of 227.5 million USD.

Iron and steel exports from February 01 – 15 this year have doubled compared to last year’s period. Export value has also increased by more than 63.5%. The positive export signal brings more positive expectations to the domestic construction iron and steel industry.

World oil prices rise once again.

Oil prices regained the green in the first session of the week, thanks to optimism about Chinese demand, large producers continuing to limit output, and Russia’s plan to curb supply.

Ending the session 20/02, WTI crude oil price increased 1.12% to 77.41 USD/barrel, Brent crude oil price increased 0.99% to 83.49 USD/barrel.

Without the excitement from the US market because of the holiday, market liquidity dropped sharply,

But purchasing power remains overwhelming as analysts expect China’s oil imports to hit a record high in 2023 to meet the growing demand for refined products.

Bloomberg estimates that demand from China will grow by 800,000 buckets per day, to an all-time high of about 16 million buckets per day this year.

The prospect of both domestic and foreign consumption has prompted China’s refiners to increase crude throughput from 850,000 barrels to 1.2 million buckets per day. Besides the capacity increase, at least two refineries with a combined capacity of up to 520,000 barrels will come online in the coming months. These moves are reflecting that the supply is increasing positively to meet the consumption demand in the future time, and are also the main supporting factor for the oil market yesterday.

Investors also pay great attention to Russia’s crude oil supply, as the country has to adapt to sanctions. Supply risks shortly also increase, as the US is planning a new round of sanctions against Russia, with new export control measures.

Currently, Russia plans to cut oil production by 5%, or about 500,000 buckets per day. However, before this time, Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports increased by 25% to 3.6 million buckets per day, for the week ending February 17.

Source: Government Electronic Newspaper