Industrial Metals Update Is recent news out of China positive for metals? In the last week or so, we have received the short- and long-term plans of the Chinese government at the National People’s Congress (NPC) as well as activity and spending data for the first two months... 18th March 2016 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Much more to gold’s rally than changes in monetary policy The price of gold has been boosted further today by the apparent dovishness of the Fed. Indeed, the consensus view seems to be that the prospects for the precious metal can be distilled down to... 17th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update High stocks remain a headwind for nickel prices With the stainless steel sector expected to remain in the doldrums, the prospects for nickel demand are poor. Falling production should still mean that the market deficit will deepen this year... 17th March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Investors remain bearish, despite rising prices Surging prices of a number of agricultural commodities since the middle of last month, helped by a weaker US dollar, pushed the S&P GSCI Agriculture index up by a little over 4%. Furthermore, the... 16th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Sentiment towards precious metals improves Precious metals prices continued their upward trend over the last month, bolstered by a weaker US dollar and a scaling back of fears over a hard landing in China. While gold benefited from further... 16th March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Investors become more sanguine on China Over the last few weeks, investors have appeared to come round to our long-held view that fears of a hard landing in China were overdone. Energy and metals prices, in particular, benefited from the... 16th March 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Update Could there be a deal to freeze oil output without Iran? Russia’s announcement that it supports Iran’s right to increase production probably raises the chance of some sort of deal on freezing output. However, a credible and enforceable deal is far from... 15th March 2016 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Palladium price to strengthen, despite high stocks Concerns about China’s demand have been weighing on the price of palladium in recent months. As such, we think the price will recover as investor fears of a hard landing in China are assuaged. However... 11th March 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Update Recovery in US natural gas prices likely to be a slow-burner High stocks due to the exceptionally mild winter will prevent US gas prices from recovering much this year, but strong demand growth should set the scene for higher prices further down the line. 10th March 2016 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Is ECB easing good or bad for gold? The fall and subsequent rebound in the dollar price of gold after today’s announcement of additional monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB) should help to settle the debate over what... 10th March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Malaysia Monthly Palm Oil Data (Feb.) Data released earlier today by Malaysia’s Palm Oil Board suggest that the market for palm oil continued to tighten in February, as falling production precipitated a further drawdown of stocks. 10th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Recent rally in iron ore prices likely to be short-lived The price of iron ore has strengthened significantly so far this year, and saw its largest one-day move on Monday when it rose by almost $10 per tonne. The fact that iron ore has fallen by more than... 9th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Stock movements may point to optimism about demand LME exchange stocks have generally been falling this year, while Shanghai-based stocks have been rising. We suspect that rising stocks in China are a reflection of hopes that ongoing stimulus measures... 9th March 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update China’s REE exports start the year strongly China’s total rare earth element (REE) exports were lower in January and February than in December, largely due to the Chinese New Year holidays. But exports in both months were still higher than... 8th March 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Update Another five years of rejection for coal The draft outline of China’s latest five-year plan spells more bad news for global coal prices as the government focuses on energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions, while continuing to support... 8th March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update What should we make of the rebound in iron ore prices? The recent surge in the price of iron ore should be seen in the context of improving sentiment towards industrial commodities in general. The even larger price falls that occurred before have also... 8th March 2016 · 1 min read
