Global Economics Update Slowdown in China not a disaster for global economy Other than for some commodity exporters, the negative impact of lower growth in China on activity elsewhere should be fairly limited. What’s more, there are some offsetting positives including lower... 26th April 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update What do lower copper prices mean for Chile? The recent falls in global copper prices add further weight to our belief that GDP growth in Chile will be slower than most expect this year. Even so, this is unlikely to be a disaster for the economy... 26th April 2013 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update China slowdown opens the door for new EM growth stars Recent evidence of weaker economic activity in China and falling global commodity prices supports our view that overall emerging market (EM) growth will disappoint in the years ahead. But while... 24th April 2013 · 1 min read
US Economics Update US recovery due to more than just the energy boom The boom in domestic energy production and the indirect benefits to the rest of the economy from lower natural gas prices have played only a minor role in the US economy's strong performance compared... 23rd April 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Region increasingly vulnerable to lower commodity prices The slump in commodity markets last week has raised questions over how exposed Latin America is to a period of lower prices. While the risks vary from country-to-country, the bigger picture is that... 22nd April 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Lower commodity prices to help most Asian economies Commodity prices have fallen sharply over the past week as investors have taken a more downbeat view of global growth prospects. Although weak global demand is likely to weigh on Asia during the rest... 22nd April 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Where do we stand on China and the "super-cycle"? In the light of the recent sharp falls in many commodity prices, it is worth reiterating our scepticism on the durability of the “super-cycle” and on the scope for further support from China. 18th April 2013 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update What does the fall in oil prices mean for the MENA region? The recent fall in oil prices is unlikely to unduly trouble the Gulf States. Prices need to drop much further and stay there before they run fiscal deficits, and even then large savings and low debt... 18th April 2013 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russia: the implications of oil's fall to below $100pb The drop in oil prices over the past month will limit the room for fiscal stimulus in response to the slump in Russia’s economy since the turn of the year and is another reason to expect the recovery... 17th April 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Will 2013 be a rerun of 2012 for oil prices? The recent weakness supports our view that oil prices have been unsustainably high given the fragility of the global economic recovery. Over the next few years we continue to expect $100 to become a... 16th April 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Gold becomes a traders’ market The trigger for the slump in the gold price since Friday appears to have been aggressive selling by speculative traders, rather than any change in the fundamental drivers. Gold has also been caught up... 15th April 2013 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Falls in grain prices to help keep global inflation subdued The recent declines in the prices of US grains and oilseeds have received much less media attention than the surge last summer, but they have now reversed most of those gains. Admittedly, the prices... 11th April 2013 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Still plenty of upside for gold The gold market was hit yesterday both by the prospect of an early end to the Fed’s quantitative easing and by speculation that Cyprus could be the first of the troubled euro-zone countries to sell... 11th April 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update China's commodity imports fail to keep pace China’s total imports accelerated in y/y terms in March, but commodity imports remained weak. In particular, we estimate that the year-on-year decline in the volume of commodity imports in the first... 10th April 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Platinum prices to rise even without OPEC-style cartel Recent speculation about an OPEC-style producer cartel for the platinum group metals (chiefly platinum, palladium and rhodium) is unlikely to come to much. However, falling production due to cost... 8th April 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack Corn leads commodities lower as demand disappoints The collapse in the prices of US grains has received the most attention recently, but commodity prices in general continued to fall in March. The main drivers of this weakness were worries about the... 3rd April 2013 · 1 min read
