Major emerging markets, which have provided much of the growth in oil consumption in the past two decades, are beset by economic problemsLondon — Consumption concerns have kept oil prices under pressure since the middle of April, even as threats to production and seaborne exports multiply.
Global manufacturing production is decelerating, new export orders are falling, air freight volumes are declining and container throughput is down, the most recent monthly indicators for March and April show. The decline in the MSCI emerging markets index is an improvement on the 17% drop at the end of December, but still the worst since the 2015/2016 commodity slump.
• Iran’s economy is shrinking, Saudi Arabia’s growth is predicted to decelerate and the United Arab Emirates will continue to grow slowly, according to the IMF. Brazil’s petrol sales have been falling steadily for 18 months but the decline accelerated sharply in March, while diesel sales, which had been growing, also dropped unexpectedly.