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
Metals Data Response Global Steel Production (Feb.) World Steel Association (WSA) data, released today, show that global steel output fell by 3.3% year on year in February, although this represented an improvement from the January drop of 7.1%. 21st 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 Weekly Fed’s apparent “dovishness” cheers the markets Commodities have benefited in the past week from a continued improvement in investor sentiment, helped by a relatively dovish statement from the US central bank which weakened the dollar further... 18th March 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Chart Pack Gold continues to shine on rising inflationary pressures Precious metals prices rallied over the past month, bolstered by a weaker US dollar and a lessening of fears over a slowdown in China. While gold benefited from the Fed’s dovishness in its latest... 18th March 2016 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Canadian dollar rally won’t be sustained The recent rally in the Canadian dollar, which has been driven by rising oil prices and downgrades to the outlook for US interest rates, is unlikely to last beyond the middle of this year. Admittedly... 18th 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
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
Energy Data Response US Weekly Petroleum Status Report US inventories of crude oil rose for the fifth consecutive time last week, despite a fall in US oil production and an increase in inputs to refineries. What’s more, gasoline stocks declined again as... 16th 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
