European natural gas prices climbed to a four-year high on Tuesday amid below-average storage levels and growing market anxiety over winter supplies.
Natural gas futures prices at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), the European benchmark, rose more than two percent on the day to cross 86 euros (about 96 U.S. dollars) per megawatt-hour, a sharp increase from around 32 euros per megawatt-hour recorded in February.
The price surge comes amid geopolitical tensions surrounding Iran in late February and the disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, an essential passage affecting roughly one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas exports and over a quarter of seaborne oil shipments.
Compounding the strain, European storage facilities are currently filled to just 73.75 percent of capacity, significantly below historical averages for this time of year. With forecasts predicting cooler temperatures across northwestern Europe starting next weekend, rising heating demand is set to further strain reserves and shrink the region's buffer against potential supply shocks.
European gas prices reach four-year high on winter supply fears
China's service trade export expanded 14.8 percent year on year in the first eight months of this year, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday.
In the Jan-Aug period, the country's total service trade volume exceeded 5.07 trillion yuan (about 757.6 billion U.S. dollars), up 7.9 percent year on year, the ministry said.
Among them, exports neared 2 trillion yuan, while imports topped 3.07 trillion yuan, increasing 14.8 percent and 3.8 percent year on year, respectively. The deficit narrowed by 145.12 billion yuan compared with a year earlier.
In terms of structure, in the first eight months, trade in knowledge-intensive services exceeded 2.23 trillion yuan, up 6.6 percent year on year and accounting for 44 percent of the total.
Exports of knowledge-intensive services increased by 10.9 percent, making up 53.7 percent of all service exports. Among them, personal cultural and entertainment services and financial services recorded the strongest growth, at 66 percent and 21.6 percent, respectively.
"In the first eight months of this year, China's service trade exports grew significantly faster than imports, narrowing the service trade deficit and continuously enhancing the sector's international competitiveness. Knowledge-intensive services have emerged as a new driver of export growth. The export of digital content, such as games and micro dramas, has helped drive the rapid growth in exports of personal cultural and entertainment services. Meanwhile, productive services linked to goods trade have provided important support, with strong demand for international shipping, air freight and cross-border logistics driving rapid growth in both imports and exports of transportation services," said Li Jun, director of the Institute of International Trade in Services at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
China's service trade export surges 14.8 percent in Jan-Aug
