Precious Metals Update Time to buy gold? The price of gold has benefited from heightened geopolitical risk in recent weeks. While prices are likely to remain well supported in the short term as global trade worries see investors rotate out... 28th March 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update China’s imports start the year on a strong note Although China’s imports of most metals rose strongly in the first two months of 2018, other indicators imply weaker domestic demand, which could lead to lower volumes in the coming months. 26th March 2018 · 1 min read
Energy Update Jump in oil prices likely to be temporary Increasing tensions in the Middle East and expectations that OPEC will extend its output cuts have driven oil prices higher recently. However, even if President Trump reimposes sanctions on Iran... 26th March 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Is the DRC’s new mining code a threat to EVs? The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s decision to hike royalties on cobalt mining represents a threat to the electric vehicle industry and could accelerate the ongoing substitution with cheaper... 23rd March 2018 · 1 min read
Energy Update Will the new Chinese crude contract matter for prices? In our view, the new yuan-denominated crude futures contract should have no long-term impact on oil prices, even if it becomes a major benchmark. At any rate, a history of extreme volatility in China... 23rd March 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Zinc’s rally looks rusty Robust demand and constrained supply have pushed the price of zinc higher over the past year. But fundamentals have deteriorated sharply in recent months and point to substantially lower prices ahead. 22nd March 2018 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Gold shrugs off Fed rate hike Somewhat counterintuitively, the price of gold gained 1.4% following the Fed’s decision to hike US interest rates for the sixth time in this tightening cycle. However, we think that the recent rally... 22nd March 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Update No need to fear the Fed The prospect of additional US rate hikes could weigh on commodity prices this year and will almost certainly lead to a lower gold price. But our negative outlook for industrial commodity prices is... 22nd March 2018 · 1 min read
Energy Update Robust trade growth to support oil demand Despite the risk of further protectionist measures by President Trump and retaliation by China and the EU, we think that growth in world trade is likely to remain strong this year, which should help... 19th March 2018 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update The future of solar is not paved with silver The solar industry has been the fastest growing source of demand for silver in recent years. While we expect photovoltaic capacity to continue to increase at a fast pace over the next decade, we think... 15th March 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Update US tariffs unnerve metals markets Commodity prices have rebounded, after slumping in the wake of the global equity sell-off in late January, although they have dipped a bit lately, despite dollar weakness. The agriculture index has... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Rising copper stocks point to subdued demand There have been some big jumps in stocks of copper, aluminium and zinc since the start of 2018, but inventories of the other base metals have fallen slightly. Given that we expect demand to soften... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Energy Update Growth in LNG demand to come off the boil The liquefied natural gas (LNG) market looks set to remain comfortably supplied this year, particularly as we expect growth in Asian LNG demand to slow. Given that we are also forecasting a fall in... 12th March 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update What do US tariffs mean for steel & aluminium? President Trump’s tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium are likely to be a bigger deal for the price of US steel than aluminium. But US steel prices have already surged, which coupled with higher... 9th March 2018 · 1 min read
Energy Update How could NAFTA talks impact energy commodities? Whilst we do not think that the renegotiation of NAFTA is likely to have a significant impact on demand for most energy commodities, the possibility of more protectionist measures and the subsequent... 8th March 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Lead to remain under pressure Dwindling mine supply and, more recently, strong winter demand for car replacement batteries have given a boost to the price of lead. However, demand is weakening which, coupled with increasing... 8th March 2018 · 1 min read
