عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Saudi Crude Oil Exports Fall to 5.6Mn Barrels Per Day

Oil prices hover near $65 a barrel (Reuters)
Oil prices hover near $65 a barrel (Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Saudi Crude Oil Exports Fall to 5.6Mn Barrels Per Day

Oil prices hover near $65 a barrel (Reuters)
Oil prices hover near $65 a barrel (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports fell to their lowest in eight months in February, the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) said on Monday.

Crude exports fell to 5.625 million barrels per day (bpd), their lowest since June 2020 in February, from 6.582 million bpd in the prior month.

Monthly export figures are provided by Riyadh and other OPEC members to JODI, which publishes them on its website.

Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, voluntarily cut output by one million bpd in February, March, and April as part of a deal with OPEC+ producers after new virus variants cast doubts over fuel demand.

Meanwhile, Oil prices edged higher on Monday, supported by a weaker US dollar but gains were capped by concerns about the impact on demand from rising coronavirus cases.

Brent crude settled up 28 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $67.05 a barrel, after rising six percent last week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) US oil ended the session up 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $63.38 a barrel, having gained 6.4 percent last week.

The US dollar traded at a six-week low versus major peers on Monday, with Treasury yields hovering near their weakest in five weeks.

A weaker dollar makes oil cheaper for holders of other currencies.

However, COVID-19 cases have surged in India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, dampening optimism for a sustained global recovery in demand.

India reported a record rise in infections, which lifted overall cases to just over 15 million, making the country the second-worst affected after the United States, which has reported more than 31 million infections.

“This new wave of measures, while so far likely to be less stringent than what we saw in March 2020, when gasoline and gasoil/diesel demand in the country fell by close to 60 percent, is nevertheless set to weigh on transportation fuel consumption,” consultancy JBC said.

Most Viewed

 
Business

China Hits Back at US and Will Raise Tariffs on American Goods from 84% to 125%

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
TT
20
TT

China Hits Back at US and Will Raise Tariffs on American Goods from 84% to 125%

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on US goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.

While US President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying" and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday.

Washington's repeated raising of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new tariffs. “However, if the US insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and fight to the end.”

China’s Commerce Ministry said it would file another lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the US tariffs.

“There are no winners in a tariff war,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said during a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, according to a readout from state broadcaster CCTV. “For more than 70 years, China has always relied on itself ... and hard work for development, never relying on favors from anyone, and not fearing any unreasonable suppression.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday said China stands firm against Trump’s tariffs not only to defend its own rights and interests but also to “safeguard the common interests of the international community to ensure that humanity is not dragged back into a jungle world where might makes right.”

Wang made the remarks when he met Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Beijing. Wang said China will “work together with other countries to jointly resist all retrogressive actions in the world.”

Trump's on-again, off-again measures have caused alarm in stock and bond markets and led some to warn that the US could be headed for a recession. There was some relief when Trump paused the tariffs for most countries — but concerns remain since the US and China are the world's No. 1 and No. 2 economies, respectively.

“The risk that this escalating trade war tips the world into a recession is rising as the two largest and most powerful countries in the world continue to punch back with higher and higher tariffs,” Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital markets, wrote Friday. “No one truly knows when this will end.”

Chinese tariffs will affect goods like soybeans, aircrafts and their parts and drugs — all among the country's major imports from the US Beijing, meanwhile, suspended sorghum, poultry and bonemeal imports from some American companies last week, and put more export controls on rare earth minerals, critical for various technologies.

The United States' top imports from China, meanwhile, include electronics, like computers and cell phones, industrial equipment and toys — and consumers and businesses are likely to see prices rise on those products, with tariffs now at 145%.

Trump announced on Wednesday that China would face 125% tariffs, but he did not include a 20% tariff on China tied to its role in fentanyl production.

White House officials hope the import taxes will create more manufacturing jobs by bringing production back to the United States — a politically risky trade-off that could take years to materialize, if at all.