Commodities Update US farmers dig in for cold weather The very cold weather in the US appears to have had fairly little impact on agricultural commodities. Indeed, even those crops most at risk, such as wheat and citrus fruits, seem to be mostly unharmed... 10th January 2014 · 1 min read
Commodities Update China's commodity import demand set to slow further Unsurprisingly, China’s imports of many commodities, including oil, reached new highs in 2013. More noteworthy were clear signs of a slowdown in the growth of many key commodity imports. What’s more... 10th January 2014 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Apparent market tightening supporting copper prices for now Falling exchange stocks and solid apparent consumption growth in China in the second half of the year pushed copper prices to around a 7-month high of $7,000 per tonne by end-2013. However, the... 10th January 2014 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Why Iran talks have not (yet) led to much lower oil prices The progress being made in defusing tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme has failed to have a marked impact on global oil prices. In part this is because of renewed disruption elsewhere in the... 9th January 2014 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Will gold come back into favour in 2014? The consensus is that the price of gold will grind lower in 2014, at best, as the support from loose US monetary policy gradually weakens. In contrast, with investor sentiment already so heavily... 23rd December 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Fed tapering shouldn't be a big deal for commodities The stance of US monetary policy is well down the list of key drivers for the prices of most commodities. The prospect of an extended period of ultra-low interest rates and the backdrop of stronger US... 19th December 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Agricultural reform in China could reduce global prices Potential changes to China’s farm subsidies, which would allow market forces to have more influence over domestic crop prices, could result in substantially lower state stockpiling of many... 17th December 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Attention turns to demand & South American harvests In spite of the increase in demand for animal feed projected in the latest WASDE, we expect the global supply of the major grains and soybeans to be ample at current or even lower prices. 11th December 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Muted response to US data suggests "Fed taper" priced in The limited reaction in commodity markets to the stronger-than-expected US employment report supports our view that Fed tapering may not be the watershed that many still expect. In particular, the... 6th December 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Brent - WTI spread to narrow as both prices fall back The widening of the spreads between the prices of Brent and US benchmark crudes should reverse over the next year as new pipelines ease the logistical constraints that have contributed to the glut of... 4th December 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Sugar prices still have further to fall Even though the global price of sugar has already slumped by around a third over the last three years, we think it has further to go. We expect the US benchmark sugar price to finish 2014 at 15 cents... 28th November 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Will bitcoin ever become mainstream? The surge in the value of bitcoin has encouraged speculation that it could become a credible alternative to fiat currencies and a serious financial asset in its own right, perhaps even supplanting... 28th November 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update What could China's Third Plenum mean for steel? In the short term the economic reform package set out at the end of a meeting of top Chinese government officials, known as the Third Plenum, should have little impact on the prices of steel or... 26th November 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update What could the deal with Iran mean for oil prices? The deal between Iran and the West is unlikely to result in an immediate increase in oil supplies, but it does lay the groundwork for a potentially much more significant agreement next year. We expect... 25th November 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update China and euro-zone PMIs point to weak industrial demand As if the uncertainty over Fed tapering were not enough to worry about, early business survey indicators from China and the euro-zone suggest that demand for industrial commodities will disappoint. 21st November 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Cut in ethanol law knocks back hopes of higher corn demand The proposed reduction in the Renewable Fuels Standards in the US could reduce US corn consumption by over 4% next year compared to likely consumption under the current law. This should put further... 19th November 2013 · 1 min read
