Watch: Market Movers Global, June 17-21: Oil prices stuck in low-$80 range amid demand concerns and rising inventories

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This week in oil, prices are currently stuck in a low-$80 per barrel range following bearish comments on demand from the International Energy Agency and a recent jump in US crude inventories.

The US Federal Reserve's recent comments dampening expectations of interest rate cuts may also be pressuring prices.

Not everyone is in sync with the bearish view of oil, but the OPEC+ producer group has its work cut out convincing the market that promised production cuts will be fully implemented following over-production by some countries in May.

In the US, the market will be watching the oil and gas rig count after the numbers fell to 32-month low in early June. The decline comes amid an industry-wide shift towards prioritizing free cash flow over drilling activity.

In China, alumina prices are expected to stay elevated due to supply tightness from increased refinery maintenance and higher demand from downstream smelters.

The resumption of smelters in Yunnan and the commissioning of new projects are driving alumina demand further, keeping prices high.

The Asian thermal coal market is expected to see subdued demand this week due to reduced coal consumption in China amid severe rainfall and healthy stocks in India.

Although there might be some inquiries from Vietnam due to rising summer demand, they are unlikely to offer any significant support to prices.

On the supply side, small Indonesian miners might face operational challenges due to ongoing rains in Kalimantan, but no major supply disruptions are anticipated.

Moving to renewable energy, bidding for 2.5 gigawatts of German offshore wind sites starts today.

The auction, which has already seen multiple zero-subsidy bids, now moves into rounds where participants offer premiums to win concessions.

Last year, BP and TotalEnergies ended up paying over 12 billion euros in total for the rights to build four offshore wind projects, amounting to 7 GW of capacity.

I’m Lei Zhong, thank you for kicking off your Monday with S&P Global Commodity Insights.