Metals Chart Pack Metals prices come off the boil in December The prices of most metals rose last year, but industrial metals substantially outperformed precious. While we had always been positive on the outlook for metals in 2016, even we were surprised by the... 5th January 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack Oil price rally fails to lift wider sentiment The prices of many commodities slipped back in December, despite the rise in the oil price and encouraging economic data out of China. While the falls in industrial metals may have been the result of... 3rd January 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Nickel market to tighten, but will that be enough? The prospect of reduced mine supply from the Philippines was a key driver of the rally in nickel prices in the second half of 2016. However, the price of nickel still underperformed its base metal... 3rd January 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Commodities end 2016 on a strong note Prices have drifted a bit this week, ahead of the Christmas and New Year holiday period. However, the bigger picture is that the prices of most industrial commodities are ending the year significantly... 22nd December 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Key commodity calls for 2017 Commodity prices face a number of headwinds moving into next year, including rising US interest rates, further US dollar strength and less stimulus spending by the Chinese authorities. However, we... 21st December 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Aluminium Production (Nov.) According to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), global primary aluminium output rose by 2.9% y/y last month, up from 1.5% y/y in October, as India, Russia and China continued to expand... 20th December 2016 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Markets take Fed rate hike in their stride Financial markets in India have taken last week’s decision by the US Fed to hike interest rates for the first time in a year in their stride. A bigger test might come if the Fed now tightens more... 20th December 2016 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update What to look out for in Saudi Arabia’s 2017 budget Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan, will deliver his maiden budget later this month, which is likely to reinforce the government’s commitment to tighter fiscal policy in order to... 19th December 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Commodities largely shrug off Fed rate hike The response of commodity prices to Wednesday’s US rate hike was relatively muted as the move had been widely anticipated. Predictably, precious metals, notably gold, fell on the news but further... 16th December 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Watch Rumours of OPEC’s death have been greatly exaggerated OPEC has managed to confound its sceptics (including us) by masterminding an agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC countries to cut output substantially next year. This Energy Watch looks at the... 16th December 2016 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Gulf financial markets find support from higher oil prices The rise in oil prices following the recent OPEC deal to cut output has supported financial markets across the Gulf over the past month. Stock markets have perked up and spreads of dollar bonds over... 15th December 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Mixed picture for metals stocks in 2016 Aside from a 14% m/m jump in copper inventories, there haven’t been any big changes in stocks over the past month. However, the year-to-date picture is more mixed, with the aluminium, tin and zinc... 15th December 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Fed tightening still consistent with strong commodity demand Yesterday’s US rate hike was widely anticipated, which probably explains the relatively muted responses in commodity markets. We expect the Fed to accelerate the pace of tightening in 2017, which... 15th December 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Data Response US Weekly Petroleum Status Report US oil stocks fell last week as imports dropped. But production grew again, highlighting the risk that output cuts by OPEC and the resulting increase in prices will simply encourage more non-OPEC... 14th December 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update China Industrial Metals Demand Monitor (Nov.) China’s activity data for November painted a positive picture for metals demand. However, there are signs of a slowdown in the all-important construction sector which, coupled with official efforts to... 14th December 2016 · 1 min read
OPEC Watch Angola, Libya and Nigeria push OPEC’s output higher Further increases in output from Libya and Nigeria will make it more difficult for OPEC to reach their output quota of 32.5m bpd. 14th December 2016 · 1 min read
