Commodities Weekly Oil prices rise on Middle East conflict, cut down by US The oil market's fairly muted reaction to events in the Middle East this week only temporarily reversed the recent downward trend in oil prices. On the face of it, however, the risk of a spike in oil... 2nd August 2024 · 4 mins read
Commodities Weekly Harris’ green credentials; metals slump to end While many of Vice President Kamala Harris’ climate policies are likely to be similar to Biden’s, her track record suggests she could take a firmer stance on fossil fuel production. However... 26th July 2024 · 3 mins read
Commodities Weekly Industrial metals prices crumple, gold hits a new peak The weaker-than-expected economic activity data for China in Q2 weighed on industrial metals prices early in the week. The mood was further darkened by the lack of any specific stimulus announcements... 19th July 2024 · 4 mins read
Commodities Weekly Traditional gold price drivers come back into focus The ~18% rise in gold prices seen this year has largely defied the traditional logic of demand drivers. Indeed, the surge in gold prices between February and April took place against a backdrop of a... 12th July 2024 · 4 mins read
Commodities Weekly Taking stock of hurricane season energy risks While the fossil fuel sector looks set to get off relatively lightly from Hurricane Beryl, the prospect of a busier than usual Atlantic hurricane season this year raises the chances of greater... 5th July 2024 · 4 mins read
Commodities Weekly Economics, not the White House, the key to US energy The Dallas Fed survey of oil and gas firms released this week revealed deep dissatisfaction with the Biden administration. Donald Trump has made it clear he would provide greater support for the... 28th June 2024 · 4 mins read
Commodities Weekly Metals prices still on shaky ground This week's weaker-than-expected activity data in China seems to be at odds with the broadly flat or slight increases in base metals prices this week. The big picture however is, that the data... 21st June 2024 · 4 mins read
Commodities Weekly Peak oil debate slightly misses the point The focus in oil markets this week was on the long term with the IEA predicting that oil demand will peak in 2029 while OPEC argued there is no peak in sight. In any case, when the peak occurs is only... 14th June 2024 · 4 mins read
Commodities Weekly OPEC+ temporarily sinks oil prices The decision by OPEC+ last Sunday to increase output from October caught investors by surprise and sent oil prices sinking to below $78 per barrel early in the week. Ahead of the meeting, investors... 7th June 2024 · 5 mins read
Commodities Weekly Reading the OPEC+ tea leaves: rollover is on the cards The decision by OPEC+ to move its crunch meeting from in-person on Saturday in Vienna to online on Sunday, historically a sign of an uneventful meeting, suggests that members will rollover production... 31st May 2024 · 5 mins read
Commodities Weekly EU gas and carbon price rallies are on borrowed time The 12% rise in European natural gas prices this week bucked the trend of sharp falls in oil and precious metal prices. Nonetheless, with European gas demand set to stay subdued, and copious supplies... 24th May 2024 · 5 mins read
Commodities Weekly OPEC sticks to its bullish oil demand forecast The second consecutive monthly reduction in the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2024 oil demand growth forecast this week further widened the wedge between the IEA’s and OPEC’s near-term outlooks... 17th May 2024 · 5 mins read
Commodities Weekly OPEC+ to roll-over?; China commodity imports up With less than a month to go until OPEC+ meets to decide upon its next policy move, rumours are heating up as to what its move will be. Last week, anonymous OPEC+ sources suggested that the 2.2... 10th May 2024 · 7 mins read
Commodities Weekly Oil prices crumple; natural gas volatility to remain The 6% fall in the price of Brent oil this week, to around $84 per barrel at the time of writing, was at least partly driven by receding fears that an escalation of hostilities in the Middle East... 3rd May 2024 · 6 mins read
Commodities Weekly Metals prices: a genuine breakout or overoptimism? In a mixed week for commodity prices, copper topped $10,000 per tonne for the first time since April 2022. This is the latest in what has been a rip-roaring start to the year for non-ferrous... 26th April 2024 · 4 mins read
Commodities Weekly Rising risks to energy supply, but not time to overreact In a week that started with Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel and which ended with Israel’s retaliatory strike on Iran, it is somewhat surprising that the price of Brent crude fell. After all... 19th April 2024 · 5 mins read
