Commodities Weekly Fed back in focus as US inflation picks up The past week has been a good one for commodity prices, with most recording at least a small increase. Adverse growing conditions boosted the prices of coffee and wheat, while silver again... 22nd May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Supply concerns overshadow dollar weakness Weakness in the US dollar and rising oil prices would normally be considered positive for agricultural commodity prices. However, despite a 3.5% fall in the value of the US currency and a 5% rise in... 19th May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Dovish US data support commodity prices Commodity prices have generally had a good week, helped by further soft economic data from theUS and a renewed decline in the value of the dollar against other major currencies. Thestabilisation in... 15th May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Is there any hope for the price of US lumber? Weak US housing starts and high lumber imports are likely to be behind the large fall in the price of US lumber this year. But a rebound in starts over the coming months should support the price. 15th May 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: poor corn harvest poses little inflation risk 15th May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Which commodities could be most affected by El Niño? An El Niño event does not automatically translate into higher commodity prices. Its impact on production and prices will largely depend on its strength and duration, as well as the prevailing... 14th May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Lower production won’t stop corn & wheat prices falling The USDA’s initial crop forecasts for 2015/16 suggest that world corn, wheat and soybean markets will remain well-supplied. As such, we continue to forecast the prices of all three crops to fall... 13th May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Return of Russian wheat to put more pressure on prices With food price inflation appearing to have peaked and the economy probably already in recession, Russia is unlikely to extend its export tax on wheat. Although the authorities may leave the door open... 11th May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Oil prices run ahead of themselves After a strong start to the week, with Brent seemingly heading for $70 per barrel, the recovery in oil prices ran out of steam by Friday. Indeed, the rebound over the last few months could simply... 8th May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update FAO Food Outlook (May 2015) The FAO’s initial forecast for world cereal production, including wheat and corn, is for a fall in 2015, after two years of consecutive record harvests. 7th May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Investor sentiment diverging, but for how long? Over the past month the S&P GSCI agriculture index has continued to fall, weighed down by large declines in the prices of corn and wheat due to improving supply prospects. As a result, the index... 6th May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack Industrial commodities lead the pack Some weakness in the US dollar and hope for a delay to the first US interest rate hike helped to support commodity prices in April. Meanwhile, although Chinese economic data showed persistent weakness... 1st May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Agricultural prices facing more US dollar headwinds The appreciation of the US dollar since the middle of last year has been a contributing factor in the general decline in agricultural commodity prices. In this Agricultural Commodities Watch we look... 1st May 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update El Niño set to arrive, but with limited impact An El Niño weather event is looking more likely this year, albeit current expectations are that it will be weak. The risk to supply disruptions and the potential for higher prices should be minimal. 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Outlook Turning the corner The (largely positive) views set out in our first quarterly of 2015 have mostly been proved right. We continue to believe that this will be a year of recovery for commodity prices as a whole... 28th April 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Relative calm unlikely to last In a relatively quiet week, oil prices consolidated their recent gains as the consensus swung round to our view that the lows recorded in Q1 would prove to be the turning point. However, powerful... 24th April 2015 · 1 min read
