Commodities Update What do China’s prospects mean for commodity prices? The growth rate of China’s economy has already halved since 2007, from over 14% to around 7%. What’s more, this slowdown has been the main reason why the prices of many commodities have performed so... 16th March 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Western investors turning positive on copper Investor sentiment towards copper has been negative since late 2014. While some of copper’s recent price resilience probably has to do with short-covering, there are tentative signs that sentiment is... 16th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Commodity prices wilt in face of surging dollar Most commodity prices fell further this week, undermined by the continued strength of the US currency and soft economic data from China. The prices of crude oils, especially the traditional US... 13th March 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Copper stocks rise again Factors unrelated to physical demand continue to drive stock movements. However, a lull in activity around Chinese new year was also an issue in February. We expect the rise in copper stocks to be... 11th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Payrolls data are not all bad news Most commodity prices fell this week even before the strong US payrolls data raised expectations of early Fed tightening and further dollar strength. While recognising that both developments have... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Little to support US steel prices, for now US steel prices have plummeted since late 2014 but perhaps what is more surprising is the fact that they had not fallen earlier. Market conditions suggest prices will continue to struggle this year... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Tin prices to rise even without an Indonesian export ban After recording a small surplus in 2014, we expect the tin market to plunge back into deficit this year and prices to rise. As such, any attempt by Indonesia’s producers to curb exports may be... 5th March 2015 · 1 min read
Metals Chart Pack Copper provides a glimmer of hope A lack of Chinese buyers because of the new year holiday was a key factor weighing on metals prices in February. Only copper prices rose, perhaps in part reflecting encouraging economic data out of... 4th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack Commodities on the way up The price of Brent staged a remarkable rebound early in the month, while the copper price also made up some lost ground, with the result that the GSCI commodities index managed to outperform US... 2nd March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Outlook for metals brightening Metals prices have shown some of the largest gains in the past week, benefitting from some better news on the global economy including stronger manufacturing PMI surveys in China and the euro-zone... 27th February 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Bauxite shortfall to support alumina prices Lower bauxite availability, owing to the Indonesian export ban, and dwindling Chinese stocks will impede alumina production this year, leading to higher prices. 27th February 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Chile Retail Sales, Ind. Prod. & Copper Prod. (Jan.) A strong rebound in mining output led to a sharp rise in industrial production in January. But mining output is volatile and we wouldn’t read too much into this. Even so, there are signs from the rest... 27th February 2015 · 1 min read
Metals Watch A rosy outlook for copper prices Copper has fallen dramatically out of favour since the start of 2015. Prices have dropped nearly 10% since the beginning of the year. Projections of strong growth in mine supply and concerns about... 26th February 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Rebound in Brent fails to lift metals prices Even though industrial metals prices were dragged lower by the fall in the price of oil last year, they have yet to benefit from Brent’s recent recovery. Indeed, the futures curves for most industrial... 24th February 2015 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response ILZSG Data (2014) The preliminary 2014 data from the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) show another year of deficit in the global zinc market, while the lead market was effectively in balance. With... 24th February 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly “Grexit” could boost gold now, other commodities later Weather-related factors were responsible for the biggest moves in individual commodity prices in the past week: a cold snap in the US drove up the cost of natural gas, while further rains across key... 20th February 2015 · 2 mins read
