Filtered by Subscriptions: Commodities Use setting Commodities
This year, the EU announced reforms to its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) which, if introduced, would boost the price of each carbon permit and ultimately help the bloc to rapidly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. In the first of a two-part Focus …
10th November 2021
China’s imports of iron ore and copper rose in October compared to a month prior (in seasonally adjusted terms). But we doubt this is the start of a renewed upswing, not least as indicators of demand have deteriorated and volumes were still down sharply …
8th November 2021
Most commodity prices fell this week, adding to the sense that the recent rally is close to a peak (if it hasn’t peaked already) . Either way, we think energy prices will be falling next year on weaker demand growth and greater supply, contributing to …
5th November 2021
Overview – Industrial metals prices have risen recently on the back of supply concerns related to higher energy costs and power rationing in China. Both factors will continue to support prices in the near term. However, we expect these supply issues to be …
3rd November 2021
Overview – Following sizzling rallies in the prices of energy commodities in 2021, we expect prices to ease back in 2022 on the back of lower growth in demand and improved supply. Current high prices will incentivise producers to raise output and will …
1st November 2021
Despite their recent positive correlation, we think that oil and the dollar will go in opposite directions before long: we continue to think that oil prices will fall back as the supply situation improves, while we expect the greenback to stay strong …
Although the China PMI data were a mixed bag in October, the big picture is that they remain at odds with sky-high industrial metals prices. This adds to our view that prices have quite a long way to fall over the next year or so as constraints on supply …
It is perhaps too soon to call the end of the energy price rally, but the prices of European natural gas and Chinese coal took a tumble this week as supply fears were, at least partially, allayed. What’s more, the recent surge in oil prices stalled. …
29th October 2021
Download the PDF for the Full Report Overview – Low stocks ahead of winter in the Northern Hemisphere have sent energy prices soaring. In turn, higher energy costs have also constrained the production of other commodities, most notably industrial metals. …
28th October 2021
US commercial stocks rise, but will remain low for a while US commercial stocks rose last week on a release of strategic reserves and a jump in net imports. Exports could fall further in the coming weeks given the need to rebuild stocks at the WTI Cushing …
27th October 2021
The recent highs in the zinc price have been driven by fears around supply as sky-rocketing energy prices have undermined smelter profitability. We expect power prices to remain high in the coming months which should constrain zinc supply and boost …
26th October 2021
We expect US crude oil production to rise by the end of next year, but remain well below levels in early 2020. What’s more, with non-US oil production set to grow at a faster pace than US oil production, the Brent-WTI price premium is likely to remain …
Slump in output points to high prices for longer Global steel output plunged in September primarily owing to a dramatic decline in China’s production. We suspect that China’s output will remain low for some months yet, which will act as a floor under …
The well-documented shortages of semiconductors have slammed the brakes on global vehicle production. As a result, the near-term prospects for platinum group metals (PGMs) demand in autocatalysts have been dented. It is only once a meaningful recovery in …
25th October 2021
The meteoric rise in energy commodity prices over the last few months lost momentum this week . Natural gas and coal prices were down particularly sharply in Europe after President Putin reiterated comments that there is scope for a rise in supply from …
22nd October 2021
Stocks fall and are likely to remain low in the short term Strong exports contributed to the first drawdown in stocks in four weeks last week, supporting already-high crude prices. What’s more, stocks at the hub of Cushing, Oklahoma, also fell and they …
20th October 2021
High power costs likely to deter production Slower growth in aluminium output in September was probably linked to surging power prices. The combination of constrained output and soaring production costs will support aluminium prices in the near term and …
Coal prices are likely to remain high over the next six months as high demand weighs on already-low stocks. Prices should drop back next year, though, as demand growth moderates and supply improves . The price of coal has roughly tripled since the start …
19th October 2021
Power rationing in China has raised concerns about metal supply. But perhaps less obvious is that power rationing will also negatively affect demand if manufacturing activity is curtailed. On balance, we think that the supply impact will dominate and …
Most commodity prices increased this week . Optimism over electrification, which was a hot topic during LME Week, seemed to feed through into higher industrial metals prices. But the prices of energy commodities were the pick of the bunch . Brent crude …
15th October 2021
Stocks rise again, but will remain depressed for months to come A large fall in the refinery utilisation rate drove another increase in stocks last week, although utilisation rates are normal for the time of the year. And with output set to remain …
14th October 2021
Even if OPEC raises quotas, there remain doubts about higher supply OPEC moved closer to its collective target output last month. However, it is now clear that if the group were to answer calls to raise output, it would involve abandoning the current …
13th October 2021
China’s imports of key commodities slumped almost across the board in September. The main exception was imports of coal, which soared in response to recent power shortages. We expect coal imports to remain strong over the next few months, but they too …
As energy prices hit multi-year highs, we look into the link between energy and non-energy commodity prices. It is clear that industrial metal prices track energy prices the most closely over time, which is mainly because the drivers of demand are …
11th October 2021
Commodity prices generally rose this week, helped by the US senate approving a deal to increase the federal debt ceiling . After a rollercoaster of a week, European natural gas prices ended the week lower following comments from President Putin that …
8th October 2021
We think that weaker physical demand, higher real US Treasury yields and a stronger dollar will mean that the recent poor performance of the silver price is set to continue over the next couple of years . After a brief spell of volatility in the price of …
7th October 2021
The price of European natural gas (TTF) surged by around 35% this morning, before crashing back down on Putin’s reassuring comments about Russian supply. The latest price moves appear speculative, and we retain our view that it is just a matter of time …
6th October 2021
Overview – Natural gas and coal prices soared in September. In turn, this has raised the output costs of industrial metals, most notably those which are especially energy intensive such as aluminium and steel. At the same time, reports suggest that some …
5th October 2021
We expect a gradual normalisation in demand growth and a rebound in supply will start to weigh on oil prices from the fourth quarter. So far this year, growth in demand has outpaced supply, helping prices to hit multi-year highs, but we expect this …
4th October 2021
Commodity prices generally rose this week , but especially energy prices, which continued to surge on constrained supply, unseasonably high demand and low stocks. That said, we think the supply shortfalls will prove temporary and expect energy prices to …
1st October 2021
Natural gas prices have soared and are likely to remain historically high for some time But there has not been an underlying structural shift up in demand And high prices will incentivise supply At the time of writing, global natural gas prices are …
China’s manufacturing PMIs for September diverged, but both still point to subdued commodities demand. What’s more, the surveys were conducted before power shortages started to constrain activity. Weaker industrial activity should put downward pressure on …
30th September 2021
Crude stocks set to remain depressed, despite surprise increase A jump in crude oil production led to the first stock build in eight weeks. However, with output still constrained and demand set to remain strong, stocks are likely to remain low for some …
29th September 2021
We believe that current high nickel prices will prove short lived, and expect weaker economic growth in China and the tapering of US monetary policy support to depress demand for nickel and pull down its price by the end of the year . The price of LME …
28th September 2021
Commodity prices held up well this week , despite the hawkish tone of the Federal Reserve and continued worries over a messy default by Evergrande, the Chinese property developer. Notably, European natural gas and Asian LNG prices continued to climb , …
24th September 2021
A mild winter in the Northern Hemisphere, a substitution of gas for other fuels in electricity generation, and/or a rise in supply via Nord Stream 2 could all send European gas prices lower in the months ahead. But even if prices start to fall back soon, …
Although a messy collapse of Evergrande is a downside risk to our near-term price forecasts, it adds weight to our view that China’s construction sector is in structural decline. In turn, this underpins our view that industrial metals prices will be on …
23rd September 2021
High prices failing to boost steel supply, at least so far Despite high prices, global steel output contracted in August. And given that the authorities in China are proactively encouraging lower output there, further falls in the coming months appear …
Declines in crude stocks seem unlikely to reverse any time soon US crude stocks have continued to fall as refinery activity has so far recovered faster than crude output following Hurricane Ida. And with demand already broadly back to pre-pandemic levels, …
22nd September 2021
Aluminium output still growing despite China fears August’s IAI data suggest that fears that power rationing in Chinese smelting hubs would negatively impact supply, which have boosted aluminium prices to decade highs, are overdone. Instead, we think that …
20th September 2021
Most commodity prices ground higher this week. And, stepping back, we think events this week highlight three key themes to watch in the months ahead . First, natural gas prices show no sign of easing back, and are likely to remain high until early next …
17th September 2021
Hurricane Ida continues to distort the data There were hefty falls in both crude and petroleum product stocks, reflecting closed production capacity due to damage caused by Hurricane Ida. Implied gasoline demand also dropped back but it is impossible to …
15th September 2021
Mounting pressure on OPEC may prompt faster unwinding of output cuts The rise in OPEC’s oil output fell well short of its target in August. And given a higher oil demand forecast for 2022, alongside growing external pressure, we think that the risks are …
13th September 2021
Commodity markets have been relatively quiet over the last few weeks , with many prices trading in a narrow range. There are a few exceptions, most notably the prices of natural gas and coal , which have soared on the back of surging power demand and …
10th September 2021
Coal and natural gas prices have soared around the world on the back of unseasonable weather and disruptions to supply. And even if the weather normalises and supply rebounds soon, we expect prices to remain high at least into the start of 2022 as stocks …
Hurricane Ida to blur the stocks picture for a few weeks yet There was a small draw in crude stocks last week, despite a dramatic drop in refinery utilisation as many refineries closed ahead of the Hurricane Ida. Notwithstanding, US gasoline demand …
9th September 2021
Although world trade volumes are likely to hold up for a while yet, a reversal of some of the shift in spending patterns caused by the pandemic is likely to weigh on commodity demand. This is another reason to expect most commodity prices to end the year …
8th September 2021
China’s imports of key commodities rose almost across the board in August, but we doubt that this is the start of a new upwards trend. Instead, with many of the factors that had boosted demand now fading, we expect China’s commodity imports to resume …
7th September 2021
After climbing to multi-year highs in May , the zinc price has stayed strong, with much less volatility than its counterparts. However, we feel weaker economic growth in China and US tapering of monetary policy will work in tandem with the ongoing …
6th September 2021
Overview – After sharp falls in the middle of the month, most commodity prices ended August broadly flat. However, we doubt it will be long before the downward pressure on prices intensifies again. After all, economic growth in most major economies now …
3rd September 2021
