Europe Commercial Property Update Oil sector slowdown means Oslo office rental growth will disappoint There are now concrete signs that the slowdown in the Norwegian oil industry is beginning to feed through to the wider economy. As a result, we expect the upwards trend in Oslo office market rents to... 12th June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Industrial Production (Apr.) April’s weak growth in euro-zone industrial production suggested that the boost to industry from the lower oil price and euro at the start of the year may already be fizzling out. 12th June 2015 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response South Africa’s Mine Production (Apr.) South Africa’s platinum group metals (PGM) production fell slightly m/m in April but has returned to pre-strike levels. While this could adversely impact platinum and palladium prices in the short... 11th June 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Weather risks to take centre stage for crop prices While global grain and soybean markets remain well-supplied, prices are likely to be determined by weather-related factors over the coming months. Nevertheless, we believe that the medium-term price... 11th June 2015 · 1 min read
Energy Data Response US Weekly Petroleum Status Report US crude oil stocks fell sharply last week, registering the largest weekly decline since July last year. This was in contrast to the previous three weeks of data which had suggested the pace of the... 10th June 2015 · 1 min read
OPEC Watch OPEC production boosted by surging Iraqi output Last month’s small increase in supply from OPEC just adds to the glut of oil already in the market and underlines the cartel’s commitment not to cut output just to support prices in the short term. 10th June 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Malaysia Monthly Palm Oil Data (May) Data released today by Malaysia’s Palm Oil Board show that crude palm oil production continued to grow in May, albeit at a slower pace than the previous two months, while inventories hit their highest... 10th June 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Lower stocks to help pave way for higher prices Exchange stocks of base metals have generally been falling over the last month. Although some metal is merely being moved into off-market locations, low stocks could be an additional factor boosting... 10th June 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Cocoa prices to ease as Ghana’s production rebounds The price of cocoa is likely to remain elevated in the near term due to continued supply concerns. But a rebound in Ghana’s 2015/16 harvest should put downward pressure on prices later this year. 9th June 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update What next for crisis-stricken Venezuela? With Venezuela’s economic crisis intensifying, attention is starting to focus on how the country might get out of this mess. Two options have been suggested in recent weeks – one is the establishment... 9th June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone GDP Breakdown (Q1) The second estimate and breakdown of euro-zone GDP in Q1 confirmed that growth in the early months of the year was driven by domestic demand, presumably partly reflecting the positive effects of lower... 9th June 2015 · 1 min read
Energy Chart Pack Oversupply and weak demand drag energy prices down The most significant event in global energy markets over the last month was the biannual OPEC meeting, where the cartel confirmed that it would maintain the current output quota of 30 million barrels... 9th June 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Global steel demand to struggle again this year Global growth in apparent steel usage was just 0.6% in 2014 and was concentrated in the advanced economies. Consumption in China and a number of other key emerging markets fell. As we expect China’s... 8th June 2015 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response World Gold Official Reserves (Apr.) Global central banks continued to buy gold for diversification purposes in April. Buying was mostly concentrated among emerging markets’ central banks, with Russia once again particularly active. 8th June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Has food price inflation reached a trough? There are good reasons to think that food price inflation has reached a trough. That said, intense supermarket competition seems unlikely to lift soon, meaning that inflation in the sector could... 8th June 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update China’s import volumes slip in May China’s commodity import volumes slipped in May but we think this was a temporary dip related to the surge in prices early in the month. We continue to expect industrial metal import demand to rebound... 8th June 2015 · 1 min read
