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In this week's Market Movers, with Mayara Baggio:
* California utilities regulator sets transportation emissions reduction targets (00:21)
* Brazil extends the aluminum tariff-free import quota (01:11)
* PVC prices fall from all-time highs (02:28)
* European lockdowns could mean more gasoline imports into USAC (03:35)
In this week's Market Movers: A California utilities regulator sets emissions reduction targets, Brazil extends the aluminum tariff-free import quota, PVC prices fall from all-time highs, and European lockdowns could mean more gasoline imports into the US Atlantic Coast.
The California Public Utilities Commission has adopted greenhouse gas emissions to reduction targets for transportation network companies, such as Uber and Lyft. This is part of the commission's overall work to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. Next, transportation network companies will submit greenhouse gas reduction plans for review.
The targets are separated into Annual Greenhouse Gas targets and start at 252 grams of CO2 per passenger mile traveled for 2023 and decrease to zero by 2030 -- and Electric Vehicle Miles Traveled targets, which start at 2% in 2023 and increase to 30% by 2026.
Brazil's Foreign Trade Chamber has added another 62,000 metric tons to the P1020 aluminum tariff-free import quota, valid until the end of the year. The decision will be effective this Friday, November 26. The original 262,000 metric-ton quota was depleted in July, and then extended to 288,000 metric tons in September, but the volume was totally consumed in a few days. After that, imports that didn't have an import license were subject to a 6% tariff over the all-in price. The duty was reduced to 5.4% from November 12 until the end of 2022. There are still no indications about a new quota for 2022, but some market participants are concerned that the total volume could be much smaller than this year due to increased smelting.
This brings us to our social media question of the week: What should the minimum aluminum quota in Brazil be? Tweet us your thoughts using the hashtag PlattsMM.
In petrochemicals, we're seeing prices for construction staple polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, begin to retreat from all-time highs in the coming weeks as US supply recovers from multiple severe weather events and operational issues.
The US's four PVC producers have been unable to sufficiently refill inventories since two hurricanes hit Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the fall of 2020. The deep freeze in the Gulf Coast in February, as well as Hurricane Ida in August, also crushed production and restocking efforts.
Market sources expect prices to fall from their highs in December and going into 2022, as production has mostly normalized since those events. However, sources also see prices declining gradually and overall holding at historical highs with housing construction demand expected to remain strong until US mortgage interest rates begin to climb.
Turning to gasoline markets, we've seen product flows between Europe and the US Atlantic Coast slow in recent months on stronger domestic demand in Europe and strong backwardation in the Atlantic Coast market. US Customs data shows that gasoline imports from Europe fell about 30% from September to October to just 5.63 million barrels of gasoline product.We've seen around 2.3 million barrels through the first two weeks of November but could potentially see increased imports as parts of Europe go into lockdown following the latest wave of COVID-19 cases.
The Platts Atlas of Energy Transition is your map to the sustainable commodity markets of the future. You can explore the Atlas by visiting the address displayed on your screen. Thanks for kicking off your Monday with us and have a great week ahead.
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