From S&P Global Commodity Insights, April 25:
This week, we take a look at what Emmanuel Macron's election victory means for French power prospects, record prices for Brazil's soybeans, and the rise in food inflation. Also in focus are India's crude demand and the cost of shipping fuel from Asia to the US.
1. French power prices keep rising after Macron victory amid near-term nuclear woes
What's happening? French power prices for 2023 hit a new record-high April 25 after President Emmanuel Macron secured a second term in office following a run-off election April 24 amid rising power generation costs across Europe. The vote was held during volatile times with Russia's invasion of Ukraine moving the goalposts of European energy policy as the continent seeks to end its reliance on Russian energy imports. French year-ahead power rose 34% over the past month to Eur260/MWh ($279 MWh), while French winter premiums over European neighbors widened even more.
What's next? Macron seeks to strengthen France's nuclear sector amid unprecedented reactors outages and the current fleet set for the lowest annual production in over two decades. Long-term, however, France is set to lead Europe's ambitions in building new nuclear plants, analysts from S&P Global Commodity Insights said. In its European Electricity Long-Term Forecast, S&P Global forecasts France to see the highest level of new nuclear build in Europe, albeit not enough to prevent capacity falling to 2050 as existing reactors come to the end of their technical lifespan. S&P Global forecasts French nuclear to average around 30 GW this summer, the lowest on record for the current fleet....
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