Commodities Update Commodity import volumes held up in Q1 China’s commodity import volumes picked up in March, after the holiday-related slump in February. However, we expect import volumes to ease back in the coming months as activity slows as a result of... 13th April 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Aluminium bears the brunt of US sanctions on Russia Aluminium is the only commodity which has been directly affected by the latest round of sanctions on Russia, but even there we think that the boost to prices will be temporary. Instead, the surge in... 12th April 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Russian sanctions’ boost to aluminium to be short-lived The sanctions on Russian producer, Rusal, are likely to support aluminium prices in the short term. However, Russian output is unlikely to collapse. What’s more, higher prices will encourage... 12th April 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Geopolitical tensions boost prices Commodity prices rebounded at the start of April on the back of concerns over US sanctions on Russia and escalating tensions in the Middle East, despite the dollar being flat. Indeed, only the... 11th April 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Protectionist rhetoric weighs on prices Trade tensions escalated this week, as the US and China engaged in tit-for-tat announcements on proposed tariffs. The prices of commodities which would be affected by the tariffs generally fell... 6th April 2018 · 1 min read
Metals Chart Pack Rising protectionism drives prices lower Fears of a trade war between China and the US and heightened geopolitical tensions weighed on most metals prices last month as investors rotated out of risky assets and into safe havens. In contrast... 4th April 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Subdued demand to weigh on copper The price of copper has already fallen back sharply but we think this is more about heightened geopolitical risk than fundamentals. The price may revive in the near term if risks start to fade, but... 3rd April 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack Oil rises, despite trade woes Commodity prices drifted down in March, despite a relatively stable US dollar. However, given the slump in developed market equities, commodity prices held up relatively well. This was largely due to... 3rd April 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Heavy industry unlikely to lift China’s PMI for long China’s unofficial and official manufacturing PMIs diverged again in March. The easing of pollution controls on heavy industry gave a boost to the official index, but slower growth elsewhere weighed... 3rd April 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Watch Taking stock of the first quarter In this Commodities Watch, we review developments in the first quarter of this year and draw conclusions about what they mean for our price forecasts. 29th March 2018 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Steel Production (Feb.) World Steel Association (WSA) data showed a 3.5% y/y increase in global steel production in February led by higher output in China, India and Brazil. US production also edged higher and we expect it... 26th March 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Trump’s tariffs unsettle investors The US was the focus of markets this week. The Fed hiked its target rate by 25bp on Wednesday to 1.50%-1.75% but this had been widely anticipated and there was little reaction in commodity markets. In... 23rd March 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Zinc’s rally looks rusty Robust demand and constrained supply have pushed the price of zinc higher over the past year. But fundamentals have deteriorated sharply in recent months and point to substantially lower prices ahead. 22nd March 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly All quiet on the commodities front There were few large moves in commodity prices this week. China’s activity data for the first two months of the year, published on Wednesday, were reasonably strong but failed to give a material lift... 16th March 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Update US tariffs unnerve metals markets Commodity prices have rebounded, after slumping in the wake of the global equity sell-off in late January, although they have dipped a bit lately, despite dollar weakness. The agriculture index has... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Rising copper stocks point to subdued demand There have been some big jumps in stocks of copper, aluminium and zinc since the start of 2018, but inventories of the other base metals have fallen slightly. Given that we expect demand to soften... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
