Crude oil futures traded higher on Friday morning as more shipping lines decided to avoid the Red Sea route following the attacks on merchant vessels by Houthi militants.

At 9.54 am on Friday, February Brent oil futures were at $79.96, up by 0.72 per cent, and February crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $74.45, up by 0.76 per cent.

January crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,221 on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during initial trading, against the previous close of ₹6,134, up by 1.42 per cent, and February futures were trading at ₹6,250, as against the previous close of ₹6,163, up by 1.41 per cent.

A Bloomberg report said oil shipments in the Red Sea witnessed a more than 40 per cent decline this week, when compared to the daily average over the previous three weeks.

Hapag-Lloyd of Germany and OOCL of Hong Kong have decided to avoid the Red Sea route following the Houthi attacks on ships. Market reports said Hapag-Lloyd would re-route 25 ships from the Red Sea route by the end of the year. Quoting a statement from OOCL, a Reuters report said the shipping line has guided OOCL-operated vessels to either divert route or suspend sailing to the Red Sea.

Avoiding the Red Sea route means ships will have to take a longer route, leading to delays in transportation and cost escalation.

Angola exits OPEC

Meanwhile, Angola has exited from the OPEC+ group. It was unhappy with the OPEC’s decision to set a lower production target for it for the next year.

Market reports said Angola’s exit won’t have much impact as its production is small compared to that of OPEC+. Reports said Angola produces around 1.1 million barrels a day, while the whole of OPEC+ produces around 28 million barrels a day.

Turmeric loses lustre, cottonseed oil cake shines

January aluminium futures were trading at ₹204.55 on the MCX in the initial trading hour of Friday morning, against the previous close of ₹203.50, up by 0.52 per cent.

On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), January cottonseed oilcake contracts were trading at ₹2,711 in the initial trading hour of Friday morning, against the previous close of ₹2,705, up by 0.22 per cent.

April turmeric (farmer polished) futures were trading at ₹13,890 on NCDEX in the initial trading hour of Friday morning, against the previous close of ₹13,966, down by 0.54 per cent.

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