Precious Metals Update The surge in China’s PGM imports is misleading Soaring Chinese imports of platinum group metals (PGM) could be taken as a sign that end-use is racing back towards its pre-virus level. However, we think that higher imports merely reflect... 11th June 2020 · 2 mins read
Commodities Weekly The green shoots of recovery taking hold The prices of most commodities prices rose this week, as signs emerged that developed economies may be past the worst of the initial economic hit from the coronavirus. Stronger-than-expected US... 5th June 2020 · 7 mins read
Metals Focus Wounded auto sector could haunt palladium for years We expect the palladium market to remain in a deficit this year as both demand and supply plummet. Palladium supply should bounce back reasonably quickly, but the medium-term outlook for palladium... 4th June 2020 · 15 mins read
Metals Chart Pack Recovery in industrial metals has further to run May was a good month for metals prices. The ongoing revival in economic activity in China helped to lift the prices of most industrial metals, while investment demand for precious metals remained... 3rd June 2020 · 7 mins read
Industrial Metals Update Oversupply is far worse than exchange stocks suggest Exchange stocks are best used to judge the breadth of the downturn in metal demand, rather than the depth. With that in mind, we think that exchange stocks will help to tell us when demand for metal... 3rd June 2020 · 4 mins read
Commodities Chart Pack Prices to pick up as demand slowly revives The prices of most commodities rose in May on the back of the ongoing recovery in China’s economic activity and a gradual easing of lockdown conditions in the US and Europe. We think that most prices... 2nd June 2020 · 8 mins read
Commodities Weekly Renewed US-China tensions cloud price outlook The close of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) yesterday brought with it little in the way of additional news, leaving the huge fiscal stimulus announced last Friday – which was unambiguously... 29th May 2020 · 7 mins read
Industrial Metals Update Are China’s smelters starting to struggle? So far, there is only limited evidence that a lack of raw material is constraining output at Chinese smelters. But we think that will change in the months ahead. In our view, output is still most... 29th May 2020 · 5 mins read
Metals Data Response China and India Gold Imports (Apr.) The latest data couldn’t be clearer: gold demand in the top two importing nations all but vanished in April. Imports should rise in the months ahead but will remain low by past standards. In any case... 26th May 2020 · 2 mins read
Commodities Weekly China NPC brings good news for commodities Most commodities prices rode the wave of a general uplift in investor sentiment this week. That said, prices have eased back slightly today despite encouraging signs from the National People’s... 22nd May 2020 · 7 mins read
Metals Data Response Global Steel Production (Apr.) The latest data add to the evidence of a growing divergence in the trend in steel output between China and the rest of the world. And as infrastructure spending in China is stepped up over the coming... 22nd May 2020 · 2 mins read
Industrial Metals Update China infrastructure splurge to prop up iron ore price The fiscal stimulus announced today at the National People’s Congress in China failed to make much of a splash in metals markets. Nevertheless, we think it will underpin stronger iron ore demand this... 22nd May 2020 · 2 mins read
Commodities Weekly China to the rescue? This week has provided further tentative signs of a revival in commodities demand. China’s industrial production bounced back in April and weekly data in the US suggest that the pick-up in gasoline... 15th May 2020 · 7 mins read
Commodities Weekly Investors may have got ahead of themselves Industrial commodities prices posted strong gains this week on the back of signs of a relaxation of quarantine measures in Europe and the US, which fuelled hopes that demand would recover soon... 7th May 2020 · 7 mins read
Commodities Chart Pack Prices to tread water for now The prices of most commodities struggled in April against a backdrop of moribund global demand. That said, the performance of energy commodities was mixed: while Brent crude and Henry Hub gas rose in... 5th May 2020 · 8 mins read
Commodities Weekly Still a bumpy road ahead Despite a raft of terrible economic data, industrial commodity prices ended the week broadly flat, except for oil prices which rose sharply. Attention is turning to the potential relaxation of... 1st May 2020 · 8 mins read
