Commodities Chart Pack Commodities remain in thrall to the dollar The ebb and flow of sentiment towards the US currency continues to be a key driver of commodity markets and especially gold and silver, keeping prices sensitive to the latest US economic data and... 3rd April 2015 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly What does an iron ore price of $50 mean for Australia? While it is certainly not good news, a fall in the iron ore price to US$50 a tonne or below is neither here nor there when compared with the drop from $US130 to $US70 last year. What’s more, the full... 3rd April 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Middle East tensions boost oil prices A variety of factors have lifted commodity prices this past week. Renewed Middle East fears following events in Yemen boosted oil and gold. Copper prices continued their gradual recovery, helped by... 27th March 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Zinc to continue to outperform Even with cautious demand estimates, the deficit in the zinc market will deepen this year. As such, we expect zinc prices to rise and to outperform many of the other metals. 27th March 2015 · 1 min read
Metals Focus Analysing the drivers of the nickel price We expect nickel demand to pick up this year supported by a rebound in global stainless steel output. With refined nickel production in China likely to fall owing to problems with sourcing ore and... 26th March 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Possible flaws in the ‘‘iron ore plan’’ The ongoing surge in iron ore supply had been expected, but perhaps what has taken markets by surprise is the increasing likelihood that demand could falter, even at these low prices. We think prices... 24th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Dovish Fed cheers commodity markets Hints that the Fed will keep US interest rates low by past standards even when it does start to return them towards more normal levels took the steam out of the rally in the dollar and supported... 20th March 2015 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Steel Production (Feb. 15) World Steel Association (WSA) data for February show a 4.6% m/m fall in global steel output, led by Asian producers. However, data for the first two months of the year suggest it is too soon to factor... 20th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Stronger dollar dominates Commodity prices have been dragged lower across the board by the strength of the dollar over the last month. Concerns about Chinese demand have also weighed on prices, particularly of industrial... 19th March 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Lead demand to pick up this year A strong outlook for the global auto market, given loose credit conditions, low oil prices and rising incomes in developing countries, should boost lead demand this year. With low stocks and only... 18th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update What do China’s prospects mean for commodity prices? The growth rate of China’s economy has already halved since 2007, from over 14% to around 7%. What’s more, this slowdown has been the main reason why the prices of many commodities have performed so... 16th March 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Western investors turning positive on copper Investor sentiment towards copper has been negative since late 2014. While some of copper’s recent price resilience probably has to do with short-covering, there are tentative signs that sentiment is... 16th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Commodity prices wilt in face of surging dollar Most commodity prices fell further this week, undermined by the continued strength of the US currency and soft economic data from China. The prices of crude oils, especially the traditional US... 13th March 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Copper stocks rise again Factors unrelated to physical demand continue to drive stock movements. However, a lull in activity around Chinese new year was also an issue in February. We expect the rise in copper stocks to be... 11th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Payrolls data are not all bad news Most commodity prices fell this week even before the strong US payrolls data raised expectations of early Fed tightening and further dollar strength. While recognising that both developments have... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Little to support US steel prices, for now US steel prices have plummeted since late 2014 but perhaps what is more surprising is the fact that they had not fallen earlier. Market conditions suggest prices will continue to struggle this year... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
