Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 11/18/22

Import patterns appear to be returning to normal pre-pandemic levels amid a slowdown in cargo. With a pandemic-driven surge finally over, monthly import cargo volume at the nation’s major container ports has fallen below the 2 million TEU mark and should remain there through most of this spring, according to the Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. “After nearly three years of COVID-19’s impact on global trade and consumer demand, import patterns appear to be returning to what was normal prior to 2020,” Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said. “Nonetheless, as inflation eases and consumer spending returns, we project that growth will slowly return going into the second half of the year.”

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.794091; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.154536; American Dollar to Euro = 1.179405; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.009073; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.050337.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude futures both slipped after the U.S. benchmark rose 2.7 percent on Tuesday, breaching $60 a barrel for the first time since June 2015. A pipeline run by Waha Oil Company that carries crude to Libya’s Es Sider terminal exploded Tuesday, reducing output by 70,000-100,000 barrels a day. The repair work will take about a week, according to people familiar with the situation. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is said to expect oil revenue to jump about 80 percent by 2023 to help the kingdom record its first budget surplus in a decade. “The market is having a counter-reaction to the jump yesterday,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen. “It remains supported by the news out of Libya but at the same time liquidity is very poor.” Click Read More below for additional information.