Energy Update Trump ends the “war on coal” The prices of US natural gas and renewable power are likely to be far more important to the US coal industry than President Trump’s attempts to deregulate and revitalise it. 29th March 2017 · 1 min read
Energy Update Europe’s oil demand should continue to grow in 2017 Robust economic growth in Europe’s key economies should support oil demand this year. Indeed, a pickup in global economic growth is likely to help to absorb the excess oil supplies in the market which... 28th March 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Watch How will input costs affect aluminium prices? There are many drivers of the price of aluminium, including demand, supply and investor sentiment. However, in this Metals Watch, we are going to focus on the supply-side. In particular, we are going... 27th March 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response China and India’s gold imports (Feb.) The latest import data from China and India show a mixed picture of gold demand in the two largest consumers. While China’s demand has started the new year on a soft note, an easing of the liquidity... 27th March 2017 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi economy slows on back of oil output cuts Our GDP Tracker suggests that Saudi Arabia’s economy slowed at the start of this year, which was entirely due to oil production cuts. There has been better news on the non-oil economy, where easing... 27th March 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Prices under pressure The price of oil took a tumble this week on persistent concerns about high US stocks, while copper also fell as the strike at the world’s largest mine was called off. More generally, there were signs... 24th March 2017 · 1 min read
Energy Watch Are we too bullish on oil prices? Steadily rising crude stocks have sent prices tumbling recently. This Energy Watch looks at whether our assumptions about OPEC, US shale oil production and demand are still valid and where the... 24th March 2017 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Is there really a shortage of zinc? The price of zinc has climbed higher since the start of 2017 on expectations that strong demand coupled with dwindling supply, following last year’s output cuts and mine closures, would lead to a... 24th March 2017 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update China’s metals imports sink China’s metals imports appear to have started the year on a soft note. Higher prices might have deterred purchases but we think that, in some cases, demand has also been sluggish. That said, we are... 23rd March 2017 · 1 min read
Energy Update China’s coal demand to resume downward trend Cold weather and strong economic growth have supported coal consumption in China recently. But a slowing economy and strong growth in renewables should undermine demand later in the year. 23rd March 2017 · 1 min read
India Chart Pack Demonetisation impact wearing off The latest economic data for India suggest that the most acute impact from the government’s demonetisation measures has now passed. Both the manufacturing and services PMI readings for February came... 23rd March 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Steel Production (Feb.) World Steel Association (WSA) data showed a 4.1% y/y rise in global steel production in February, in large part driven by rapid expansion in China and India. 22nd March 2017 · 1 min read
Energy Data Response US Weekly Petroleum Status Report US crude oil stocks jumped again last week due to a rise in imports, but there were further drops in inventories of gasoline and distillate fuel. 22nd March 2017 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Aluminium Production (Feb.) According to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), global primary aluminium output rose by 11.3% y/y last month, broadly unchanged from the 11.4% growth rate in January. 20th March 2017 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Could the world cope with another oil price slump? The recent drop in oil prices has raised the question of how the world economy would cope with a another sustained slump in prices. While some big oil producers would take a hit, and inflation would... 17th March 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Optimism prevails, for now It has been an eventful week in commodity markets but, for the most part, prices have risen. The US 25bp rate hike on Wednesday was widely anticipated so markets chose to focus on the fact that the... 17th March 2017 · 1 min read
