Industrial Metals Update Iron ore prices to stabilise in 2016 After falling below US$40 per tonne late last year, iron ore prices have edged higher more recently. Although we expect global demand to grow only moderately this year, we forecast that prices will be... 8th January 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update How will oil price developments affect copper? The recent slide in the oil price is weighing on the price of copper, in part because it is a reflection of negative investor sentiment towards commodities in general and China’s economy in particular... 8th January 2016 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Constrained supply may not be a panacea for alumina prices Malaysia has imposed a 3-month ban on bauxite mining and with further measures likely to follow, alumina supply could struggle in 2016. That said, demand will also be constrained by slower growth in... 7th January 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Chart Pack A bit of a breather in December The prices of industrial metals recouped a little lost ground in the final month of 2015, but still fell sharply last year. The relative resilience in December probably reflected a number of factors... 6th January 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack A mixed December closes a bleak year for commodities Broad commodity indices fell in December on the back of plummeting oil prices. But outside of energy, commodities withstood the first Fed rate hike in ten years better than many had anticipated... 4th January 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Our six key themes for commodity markets in 2016 2015 has of course been a difficult year for those, ourselves included, who have had anything positive to say about commodities. We will publish detailed predictions for 2016 early in January after a... 23rd December 2015 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Some reasons to be cheerful on copper The price of copper in US dollar terms has fallen by nearly 30% since the start of 2015. The catalyst for the decline in prices has been the slowdown in China’s economy and fears that it may... 23rd December 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Steel prices to recover slowly in 2016 After falling sharply in 2015, we expect US steel prices to recover slowly next year as a result of greater trade protectionism, further global capacity closures and improved demand. 23rd December 2015 · 1 min read
Metals Focus Aluminium prices to rise due to stronger automotive demand Governments are progressively tightening emissions and fuel economy standards for vehicles, a process that will only intensify following the deal on climate change reached at the recent Paris... 21st December 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Another strong month for China’s metals imports Continuing the resurgence that started in September, China’s metals imports remained strong in November. We think this reflects higher consumption, encouraged by the fiscal and monetary stimulus... 21st December 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update 2016 should mark the turn for rare earth prices After a difficult year, there are signs that rare earth element (REE) prices are starting to stabilise, and some already appear to have passed their trough. We remain optimistic on the outlook for REE... 18th December 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Are commodity markets right to shrug off the Fed? The muted responses in commodity markets to the first hike in US interest rates since 2006 are atribute to the clear communications of the Fed and, in our view, largely justified. Looking forward... 17th December 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Not all doom & gloom for commodities Although the S&P GSCI Commodity Index has fallen to its lowest level since the financial crisis over the past month, it hasn’t been all doom and gloom for commodity prices. Indeed, despite the slide... 15th December 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Near-term risks abound, but oil should recover in 2016 Brent crude's renewed slide below $40 per barrel was the damning verdict on OPEC's failure to agree on a number even for what is largely a notional output target. In principle, prices could keep... 11th December 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Aluminium prices set for slow recovery in 2016 Having fallen sharply over the first eleven months of the year, the price of aluminium reached a six-year low in late November, although it has since recovered a little ground. In 2016, we expect... 11th December 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Taking stock of 2015 2015 may not be quite over, but this year’s trends in exchange inventories of key industrial metals are clear. For the most part, stocks have fallen, not so much because of strong demand but because... 10th December 2015 · 1 min read
