At midday, China's main futures contracts were mostly lower: container freight to Europe slid over 6% and fuel oil fell more than 4%. Plywood, coke, coking coal and lithium carbonate dropped over 3%; low-sulfur fuel oil (LU) and asphalt fell over 2%. On the upside, palladium rose over 4%; ferrosilicon, platinum and Shanghai silver gained more than 2%, Shanghai gold and Shanghai nickel were up about 2%, and styrene (EB) rose roughly 1%.

U.S. military on Tuesday escorted 40 commercial vessels carrying about 18 mln barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, a wartime high, CNN cited two U.S. officials. The operation used air, sea and space assets to blunt Iranian attacks on shipping, repelled multiple drone strikes and intercepted and destroyed an anti-ship cruise missile, officials said. The action occurred amid a new round of U.S.-Iran confrontation and aligns with the Trump administration’s priorities to strike targets near the strait, escort commercial traffic and maintain a maritime blockade of Iranian ports as part of a broader “maximum pressure” campaign. Officials do not expect a rapid resolution, and energy firms remain wary of routing tankers through the strait despite U.S. escorts.

US Energy Secretary Wright said Venezuela's crude oil production rose 25% and exports increased 50%.