Commodities Weekly What a difference a day makes … Yesterday’s announcement by President Trump that a 10% tariff is to be levied on $300bn worth of Chinese goods came as a shock after reports of “constructive” trade talks between the US and China... 2nd August 2019 · 7 mins read
Commodities Chart Pack Subdued demand to remain a headwind With the exception of the precious metals, most commodity prices drifted lower in July on concerns about soft demand. Given our forecast of slower global economic growth in the second half of this... 31st July 2019 · 7 mins read
Precious Metals Update What a difference two decades make … The ending of the Central Bank Gold Agreement signals that worries about central bank gold sales are firmly behind us. In fact, central bank buying is now a significant prop rather than a headwind to... 30th July 2019 · 3 mins read
Metals Outlook Base metals to see better days in 2020 Recent rallies in metals prices, particularly in precious metals and iron ore, are likely to falter sooner rather than later. Indeed, we expect almost all metals prices to drop in the remainder of... 29th July 2019 · 18 mins read
Commodities Weekly Next week is all talk (and maybe some price action) Commodity prices have largely been treading water, ahead of some major events next week. The Fed will announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday. A 25 basis points rate cut is already priced... 26th July 2019 · 7 mins read
Metals Data Response Global Steel Production (Jun.) Faltering demand from the Chinese construction sector should mean that the recent downturn in global steel output growth should gather pace in the months ahead. 26th July 2019 · 2 mins read
Commodities Outlook Not out of the woods yet Subdued economic growth will weigh on the prices of most industrial and energy commodities for the remainder of 2019. What’s more, our view that there will be a further escalation in the US-China... 19th July 2019 · 25 mins read
Commodities Weekly Precious metals prices starting to look vulnerable We now expect the Fed to start cutting interest rates at the end of this month. However, we only expect a quarter-point reduction in July and only one further cut this year. While lower US interest... 19th July 2019 · 7 mins read
Precious Metals Update Palladium’s blue sky rally to cloud over The price of palladium has surged amid higher demand for the metal from the Chinese auto sector, due to the ‘Blue Sky Protection Plan’, and investor buying. But our in-house demand proxy suggests the... 19th July 2019 · 3 mins read
Commodities Weekly Boost from Powell put to fade fast Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s confirmation earlier this week that an interest rate cut is likely in July gave most commodity prices a lift. And oil prices rose to their highest level since May following a... 12th July 2019 · 8 mins read
Industrial Metals Update Little to galvanise investors to buy zinc We expect refined zinc output to grow at its fastest pace for nine years in 2019 and this, combined with ailing demand, suggests zinc prices should continue to fall to our end-2019 forecast of $2,300... 12th July 2019 · 3 mins read
Industrial Metals Update The ABC of aluminium restarts We believe that the restarts at Alunorte, Becancour and in China will provide additional downward pressure on the price of aluminium. This, coupled with a weak demand backdrop, means that we expect... 8th July 2019 · 3 mins read
Commodities Weekly Commodities down in the dumps Despite a swathe of news that should have been positive, commodity prices struggled to make gains this week as concerns about global growth continue to weigh on sentiment. Even the strong US... 5th July 2019 · 7 mins read
Metals Chart Pack Clouds gathering over metals demand The key themes last month were a marked decline in expectations for global growth and a dash for safe-haven assets by investors. Even the recent easing of tensions in the US-China trade dispute has... 4th July 2019 · 7 mins read
Commodities Chart Pack ‘Glass half empty’ sentiment to prevail While June was a relatively positive month for commodity prices, we think that a combination of slower global growth and waning risk appetite will lead to lower prices for energy and industrial metals... 3rd July 2019 · 7 mins read
Commodities Weekly Outcome of G20 and OPEC meetings to drive prices Commodity markets have been relatively quiet ahead of the G20 meeting (this weekend) and OPEC meetings (Monday and Tuesday). Investors are optimistic that a truce on trade will be agreed when... 28th June 2019 · 6 mins read