SunSirs: Energy Industries Bulk Commodity Intelligence (October 22, 2025)

Macroeconomics

1. [Fed Rate Cut] On October 29th local time, the Federal Reserve announced a 25 basis point cut to the target range for the federal funds rate, bringing it to between 3.75% and 4.00%. This is the Fed's second rate cut since September 17th, following a 25 basis point cut, and the fifth rate cut since September 2024.

2. [Federal Reserve] Fed Chairman Powell stated that the government shutdown could affect the December meeting, and that greater caution may be necessary in the absence of data. The lack of economic data could provide a reason to pause rate adjustments. A December rate cut is "far from" a certainty.

3. [Canadian Rate Cut] The Bank of Canada cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%, in line with market expectations, marking its second consecutive rate cut.

4. [South Korea-US Trade Talks] South Korea and the US reached a concrete agreement in their trade talks. Of the $350 billion South Korean investment in the US, South Korea will invest $200 billion in cash, and the remaining $150 billion will be used for shipbuilding cooperation. The US will reduce tariffs on South Korean automobiles from 25% to 15%. In the semiconductor sector, South Korea stated that the agreed-upon tariff levels will not disadvantage it. Furthermore, South Korea has obtained most-favored-nation (MFN) status regarding pharmaceutical tariffs.

Energy

1. [Crude Oil] On October 29th, international crude oil futures closed higher. The December contract for US WTI crude oil futures settled at $60.48 per barrel, up $0.33 or 0.5%. The December contract for Brent crude oil futures settled at $64.92 per barrel, up $0.52 or 0.8%.

2. [Crude Oil] The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday that US crude oil, gasoline, and distillate fuel inventories all declined last week, as US crude oil imports fell to their lowest level since February 2021. As of October 24th, US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 6.86 million barrels to 416 million barrels, compared to market expectations of a 200,000-barrel decrease. U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 5.94 million barrels to 210.7 million barrels, compared to market expectations of a 1.9 million barrel decrease. U.S. distillate fuel inventories, including diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.36 million barrels to 112.2 million barrels, compared to market expectations of a 1.7 million barrel decrease.

3. [Crude Oil] The U.S. announced a new round of sanctions against Russia, focusing on its two major oil giants, Lukoil and Rosneft. These two companies and 34 of their subsidiaries were added to the sanctions list, affecting their oil and gas exploration, extraction, and development operations.

4. [Crude Oil] Data from the Petroleum Institute of Japan (PAJ) showed that for the week ending October 25, Japanese commercial crude oil inventories fell by 377,644 kiloliters to 10,027,202 kiloliters. Japanese gasoline inventories fell by 16,721 kiloliters to 1,603,954 kiloliters. Japanese kerosene inventories fell by 91,715 kiloliters to 2,742,806 kiloliters. The average operating rate of Japanese refineries is 91.2%, compared to 86.2% the previous week.

5. [Refined Oil Products] According to Tajik customs data, from January to September 2025, Tajikistan imported 1.46 million tons of oil and gas products, totaling over US$1 billion. In 2024, Tajikistan imported 1.2 million tons of such products, totaling US$2 billion. From January to September 2025, Tajikistan imported 433,300 tons of diesel, 363,100 tons of gasoline, 60,200 tons of kerosene, and 275,500 tons of liquefied petroleum gas from Russia.

6. [Coke] On October 29th, coke prices in Shandong's Weifang, Binzhou, Dezhou, Jining, Zaozhuang, Heze, Rizhao, Tai'an, and Linyi markets are planned to increase. Prices for compacted wet quenched coke will rise by 50 RMB/ton, compacted dry quenched coke by 55 RMB/ton, top-loading wet quenched coke by 70 RMB/ton, and top-loading dry quenched coke by 75 RMB/ton, effective from 00:00 on October 31st.

7. [Petroleum Coke] On October 29th, Yatong Petrochemical quoted petroleum coke at 2,210 RMB/ton, an increase of 20 RMB/ton from the previous trading day, with a sulfur content of 4.1%. The delayed coking unit has a capacity of 1.2 million tons/year and a daily output of 850 tons.

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