Commodities Update Is this the beginning of a commodity downturn? The main commodity indices have edged lower this year but the headline figures mask very diverse underlying price movements. Looking ahead, we think that the macroeconomic backdrop for commodities... 21st June 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Steel Production (May) World Steel Association (WSA) data showed a 4.7% y/y rise in global steel production in May, down from 5.0% in April. Nonetheless, this still compares very favourably with the 0.8% increase in steel... 20th June 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Aluminium Production (May) According to the International Aluminium Institute, global primary aluminium output rose by 4.8% y/y last month, down from 6.4% y/y a month earlier. However, unlike in April when the growth was all in... 20th June 2017 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Stocks are not painting a clear picture of demand Exchange stocks generally fell over the last month. The bigger picture is that there have been sharp drawdowns in global exchange stocks of aluminium and zinc and a large build in copper inventories... 19th June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly The losing streak continues It has been a poor week for most commodity prices. The Fed’s decision to hike interest rates on Wednesday weighed on the prices of gold and industrial metals. Oil prices continued to drop, partly due... 16th June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Gold’s luck to run out The price of gold was largely unaffected by the Fed’s decision to raise its policy rate target by 25bp, to between 1.00% and 1.25%, yesterday. While many have attributed the resilience in the gold... 15th June 2017 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update China Industrial Metals Demand Monitor (May) China’s activity data were broadly stable in May, but a slowdown in construction starts and growth in investment do not bode well for future metals demand. 15th June 2017 · 1 min read
Energy Data Response US Weekly Petroleum Status Report Crude inventories resumed their downward trend last week, but gasoline stocks increased on the back of low demand and high refinery output. 14th June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Negative sentiment weighing on prices It has been a dismal few weeks for commodity prices. Prices have generally fallen amid signs of somewhat slower Chinese growth and concerns about subdued growth in oil demand and still-high stocks... 14th June 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Focus Short-term and long-term determinants of India’s gold demand India is one of the world’s largest consumers of gold and relies solely on imports to meet domestic gold demand. This has, at times, resulted in a deepening of the country’s current account deficit... 14th June 2017 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Tightness in tin likely to ease The likelihood that China will start exporting refined tin in much larger quantities should ease the relatively tight supply picture outside China. As such, we have revised down our end-2017 price... 13th June 2017 · 1 min read
OPEC Watch OPEC output jumps Higher production in Nigeria and Libya boosted total OPEC production last month. However, stocks continued to fall and the group revised down its expectations for non-OPEC output this year. 13th June 2017 · 1 min read
Energy Watch What do the next eighteen months hold in store for oil prices? Crude oil prices have slumped again recently, despite OPEC agreeing to extend its output cuts by nine months. This Energy Watch sets out our view on what will happen to supply and demand over the next... 12th June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Investor sentiment continues to sour Oil prices fell again this week on persistent concerns that the market remains oversupplied. Most metals prices also slipped, despite China’s May trade data showing robust growth in commodity imports... 9th June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Update What does a stronger Europe mean for commodities? It now appears likely that the European economy will record the strongest growth in nearly a decade in 2017. While Europe cannot compete with China or the US in terms of the likely impact on... 9th June 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response South Africa’s Mine Production (Apr.) PGM output had a strong start to the year but the latest figures suggest that it has already started to wane. We expect production to fall in the remainder of the year as the platinum price treads... 8th June 2017 · 1 min read
