Major report joins dots between world’s nature issues
Climate change, nature loss and food insecurity are all inextricably linked and dealing with them as separate issues won’t work, a major report has warned.
The review of scientific evidence by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) found governments are underestimating or ignoring the links between five key areas – biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change.
This “siloed” approach has unintended consequences, such as damaging biodiversity through tree-planting schemes, or polluting rivers while ramping up food production, the report said.
The latest assessment was approved by almost 150 countries meeting in Windhoek, Namibia.
Global rice balance sheets update
Few changes this month in rice outlook. Production was actually lowered by 100,000 tons, but still expected to be record high. Almost 534 million metric tons of rice production. Global rice exports also expected to reach a record 58.1 million tons.
This month we increased our trade forecast by 1.2 million tons, reflecting higher exports out of Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Brazil. Rice ending stocks relatively abundant there. Year over year increase of about 3.4 million tons. That mainly reflects higher stocks in India. Several years in a row of record production and also higher stocks there.
Jekanowski continues; U.S. rice balance sheet, very few changes. Just some offsetting changes in our export forecast. Long grain rice exports were lowered by 2 million hundred weight, as we’re seeing a little bit of recent weakness in exports to western hemisphere markets for long grain.
Worldwide coal demand is set to plateau through 2027
After reaching a new high in 2024, global demand for coal is set to level off in the coming years as a surge in renewable power helps to meet soaring demand for electricity around the world, according to an IEA report out.
Coal 2024 – the new edition of the IEA’s annual coal market report, which analyses the latest trends and updates medium-term forecasts – shows that global coal use has rebounded strongly after plummeting at the height of the pandemic. It is poised to rise to 8.77 billion tonnes in 2024, a record. According to the report, demand is set to stay close to this level through 2027 as renewable energy sources play a greater role in generating power and coal consumption levels off in China.
The electricity sector in China is particularly important to global coal markets, with one out of every three tonnes of coal consumed worldwide burned at a power plant in the country. In 2024, China continued to diversify its power sector, advance the construction of nuclear plants and accelerate its huge expansion of solar PV and wind capacity. This should help limit increases in coal consumption through 2027, according to the report, though it also highlights a number of key uncertainties in its analysis.
Russia to sell mines of global’s largest uranium producer to China
The world’s largest uranium producer, Kazakhstan’s state-owned company Kazatomprom, has announced the withdrawal of Uranium One Group from joint ventures in the country. Uranium One Group is part of the Russian state corporation Rosatom, Reuters informs.
Kazatomprom is the world’s largest uranium producer and holds the largest reserves of uranium. In 2023, it accounted for 20percent of the global primary uranium production. However, the company lacks its own uranium processing facilities.
Previously, shares in 6 out of 14 of the company’s deposits were owned by Rosatom. However, due to sanctions, the Uranium One Group sold its 49.979percent stake in the Zarechnoye mine to SNURDC Astana Mining Company Limited, which is ultimately controlled by a Chinese state-owned company specializing in the development of nuclear uranium resources.
China’s oil consumption peaked in 2023: CNPC
China’s refined oil consumption peaked in 2023 at 399 million metric tons (7.98 million barrels per day) and is expected to fall 1.3percent to 394 million tons in 2024, CNPC Economics & Technology Research Institute said on Friday.
As a result, crude oil imports are expected to fall to 544 million tons this year, according to a presentation by the research arm of China’s largest oil producer, although the world’s top importer still accounts for a quarter of global imports.
CNPC’s forecast underscores expectations that China’s crude oil imports are on track to peak next year as transport fuel demand begins to decline for the world’s top crude buyer, ending the country’s decades-long run as the dominant driver of expanding oil consumption.
By 2035, China’s overall refined products consumption is expected to fall by 25-40percent to 240 million to 290 million tons in 2035 from the 2023 peak, CNPC said.
Gasoline consumption is forecast to fall to 80 million to 100 million tons in 2035, down 35-50percent from 2023, as electric vehicles are expected to make up half of China’s car fleet by then, it added.
Similarly, the growth in trucks powered by alternative fuels such as electricity, liquefied natural gas and hydrogen, is expected to reduce diesel demand to 100 million to 120 million tons in 2035, a 35-50percent decline from 2023, CNPC said.
Unfettered exports’ of lng will raise prices: Report
The Biden administration claims that continuing to export liquified natural gas as the world’s largest exporter would increase costs for Americans, increase greenhouse gas emissions and pollute struggling communities in a study set to release in the coming days.
The Department of Energy released the results of a long-awaited study on Tuesday where Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm wrote in a letter about the study that maintaining the pace of gas exports is “neither sustainable nor advisable.” The analysis, ordered by President Joe Biden in January, studied the economic, national security and climate effects of approving natural gas export terminals.