Commodities Update Surge in US acreage doesn’t bode well for corn prices With sizeable US inventories and the likelihood of large US corn and soybean plantings this year, we remain of the view that prices of grains and soybeans are likely to fall over the course of the... 1st April 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update China data finally starting to turn? The jump in China’s two manufacturing PMIs in March suggest that policy stimulus is starting to work, although these reports alone only validate the earlier rally in industrial commodity prices rather... 1st April 2016 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Rhodium price to benefit from tighter fundamentals The price of rhodium is set to recover over the next couple of years as (i) cuts to capital expenditure in South Africa start to take their toll on production and (ii) usage of the metal in... 31st March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update How will the reform of the EU sugar regime affect world prices? The European Union (EU) sugar regime governs the production, sale and trade in sugar within the region. In 2017, the regime will be liberalised: production quotas will be abolished and guaranteed... 31st March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update US Weekly Petroleum Status Report US crude oil inventories hit a new record for the seventh consecutive time last week, despite a surge in inputs to refineries, a further drop in US oil production and lower imports. On the other hand... 30th March 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Update LNG prices to continue to struggle this year The balance of power in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) marketplace has shifted to the consumer given the ongoing ramp-up in supply and the fall in cost of competing fuels. Although spot LNG prices... 30th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Fundamentals will eventually underpin copper price rise The rally in copper prices since mid-January has been flattered by a weaker dollar and improved investor sentiment. However, we think a more sustainable recovery in the price will happen later in the... 29th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update China’s REE exports prove resilient The individual breakdown of China’s total rare earth element (REE) exports shows that exports of most REEs continued to grow strongly in the first two months of this year. 29th March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Key commodity prices set for further gains Followers of our relatively upbeat research since January may not be surprised to hear that we expect many commodity prices to rally further. (See our quarterly Commodities Analyst, “Oil to lead a... 23rd March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Palm oil prices to fall back later in the year With the negative effects of El Niño on palm oil production likely to continue in the coming months, we have raised our near-term price forecast. But as output returns to normal and competition from... 23rd March 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Update Will oil prices continue to recover? The foundations of the recent recovery in oil prices look a little shaky and some temporary pull-backs may be inevitable. For now we are therefore leaving our end-2016 forecasts (for both Brent and... 23rd March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Too far, too fast for Chinese steel prices Chinese steel prices have surged recently but we think they are unlikely to hold on to their recent gains, as the underlying fundamentals remain weak. Although we expect growth in steel usage to turn... 23rd March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Weak start to 2016 continues for China’s agricultural imports The detailed Chinese import data for February, released earlier today, indicate that import demand for agricultural commodities continued its generally lacklustre start to the year. 21st March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update China’s metals imports surge at the start of the year Strong growth in China’s metals imports, which started in the final quarter of 2015, continued in January-February. Some of the buying may have been opportunistic, given low prices, but it also points... 21st March 2016 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update China’s PGM imports soar in February China’s imports of palladium and platinum continued to rise strongly in February. We expect imports to remain buoyant over the coming months as car output trends higher and demand for platinum... 21st March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Rally in soybean prices unlikely to be sustained With a big Brazilian harvest now under way amidst large global stocks and strong competition in export markets, we think the US price of soybeans is more likely to fall than rise further this year. 18th March 2016 · 1 min read
