The price of natural gas rose during the fourth consecutive trading session, while tensions in the Middle East region escalated rapidly, raising concerns about global supplies in the coming months, amid an unusual decline in fuel reserves, according to what Bloomberg News Agency reported.
Record futures contracts reached their highest levels since January 2023, and gas prices rose by 8 percent, since last Friday, and the price of oil rose to exceed $100 per barrel, after the United States struck Iranian oil tankers, in response to two attempts to strike an American warship.
Tehran fired missiles at Jordan and warned ships not to pass.
Before the war, 20 percent of the oil and liquefied natural gas exported by the Middle East passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite the continued passage of minimal oil shipments, and Qatar sending a shipment of liquefied natural gas to Pakistan this week, the ongoing disruptions in exports have led to a decrease in supplies on the global market, while Europe is facing difficulty in rebuilding its gas reserves in preparation for the winter.
European storage sites were only 67 percent full, well below the five-year average of 84 percent. Traders face the risk of intense competition for gas shipments with buyers in Asia and elsewhere once winter begins.
The performance of Gulf stock markets varied at the beginning of trading on Wednesday, with escalating concerns about energy security in the region and rising oil prices, which limited investors’ appetite for risk.
The main Saudi market index rose by 0.1 percent, supported by a rise in Saudi Aramco shares by 0.3 percent.
The support for the Saudi market came in conjunction with the rise of Brent crude by more than 2 percent to exceed $100 per barrel, amid international banks’ expectations that prices will continue to rise with tightening supplies and continued unrest in the region.
On the other hand, Dubai's main index fell by 0.5 percent, affected by the decline of Emirates NBD stock by 1 percent.
The Abu Dhabi index rose by 0.1 percent, while the Qatar Stock Exchange index fell by 0.1 percent.
Last August, Taiwan's exports rose more than expected to reach a record monthly level, driven by continued strong demand for artificial intelligence, despite global concerns about inflation and rising energy costs as a result of the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran.
The Ministry of Finance announced on Wednesday that exports rose last month by 41 percent year-on-year, reaching $82.4 billion, the highest monthly level ever recorded. This increase exceeded analysts' expectations of 35.3 percent, and was also higher than export growth in July, which reached 32.9 percent, according to Reuters.
This represents an annual increase for the thirty-fourth month in a row.
According to the ministry's statement, Taiwan's exports to the United States rose by 20.7 percent during August, compared to the previous year, reaching $23.667 billion, while exports to China jumped by 39.3 percent.
Exports of electronic components rose by 58 percent to $32.216 billion, while exports of information products increased by 41.8 percent.
Imports also rose by 44.3 percent to $60.1 billion, exceeding economists' expectations of a 40 percent increase. AI applications have continued to grow, while global cloud computing providers have accelerated the development of the necessary AI infrastructure.
It is expected that export growth will continue during the second half of the year, despite the risks threatening global growth as a result of geopolitical turmoil and US trade policy.
The Ministry expects exports to rise this September by between 42 and 48 percent, compared to the previous year.
Taiwanese companies, including TSMC, the world's largest manufacturer of advanced electronic chips used in artificial intelligence applications, are major suppliers to NVIDIA, Apple, and other major technology companies.
