Every week, the commodities Overview provides you with a review of the latest developments on the commodities markets, so that you can better understand the variations in the prices of energy, metals and agricultural raw materials.
Energy: A change of mood on the oil markets, where operators are realizing that the market is not all that well supplied. The International Energy Agency has thrown a spanner in the works, announcing in its latest monthly report that the market could be in deficit this year. More concretely, the Agency revised upwards its demand growth forecasts, while at the same time adjusting downwards the dynamics of world supply due to OPEC+ policy. Against this backdrop, geopolitical friction remains high in Ukraine, which has struck oil installations in Russia, as well as in the Middle East, particularly in the Red Sea. Finally, weekly US inventories posted a surprise decline this week, the first since the end of January. In terms of prices, Brent crude is trading higher at around USD 86, while WTI is trading at around USD 81.80.
Metals: Copper continues to perform well in London, approaching the USD 9,000 per metric ton mark. The reason for this upturn is to be found on the supply side, as China plans to ease up on its copper production. Indeed, China’s largest smelters have agreed to reduce their output. Still on the industrial metals front, aluminum stabilized at USD 2,200 and zinc advanced to USD 2,520. In gold, the precious metal took a breather after two strong weeks, trading at 2160 USD. Bond yields are on the rise again, overshadowing the ounce of gold.
Agricultural products: In Chicago, where grain prices are struggling to recover. Bushels of corn and wheat are trading around 435 and 530 cents respectively.