AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Highlights
- Most of the commodities saw their prices tumble last week, while a few commodities logged significant gains.
- Coal prices also shrank significantly in the last week due to an ease in demand in China.
- Base metals, including copper and iron ore, logged 0.18% and 7.75% weekly gains last week.
Last week was a wild one for commodities, as the prices of most of the commodities tumbled, while a few logged significant gains on supply disruption concerns caused by the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
In the energy sector, crude oil prices recorded a massive weekly drop while natural gas prices jumped around 3.06% in the last week ended 1 April 2022. On a weekly basis, Brent Crude oil dipped ~13.9%, while WTI Crude Oil futures shed ~5.19%.
Must Watch: As Russia-Ukraine War Intensifies, Commodities Also Soars
US natural gas futures gained momentum on Thursday due to the expectations of healthy demand in the international market. Russian President Vladimir Putin has inked a decree mandating unfriendly nations to pay in rubles for natural gas. This was strongly refuted by European leaders.
Also Read: Crude oil surges to 14-year highs on delays in Iranian talks
Source: Copyright © 2022 Kalkine Media®
Moreover, coal prices also tumbled significantly in the last week due to the ease in demand in China. The recent COVID-19-led restrictions in China's Tangshan and Shanghai have dented coal demand and led to increased inventories at mines. As a result, the prices of coal dipped nearly 20% in the last week.
In the precious metals sector, both gold and silver have logged notable drops. The prices of both precious metals dropped on expectations of higher Federal Reserve interest rate hikes and higher Treasury Yields. On top of that, a potential ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine has further driven investors into riskier assets. Gold prices dipped around 1% in the last week.
Also Read: Crude oil slides from multi-year highs as Iran talks rev up
Base metals, including copper and iron ore logged 0.18% and 7.75% weekly gains in the last week as investors remained cautious amid worries of supply disruptions due to the war in Ukraine. What further boosted iron ore prices was the expectation of solid restocking demand in China as COVID-19 restrictions eased.
Industrial metals platinum, aluminium, and palladium dipped last week while lead and zinc prices rose significantly.
Among battery metals, the prices of lithium remained stable while nickel tumbled more than 10% in the last week.
Against this backdrop, let's skim through a few commodities that were popular among traders in the past week.
Data Source: Eikon EODHD/Others
Crude oil
Source: EODHD/Others Eikon
The White House announced one of the largest oil releases from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) to cool down the boiling gasoline prices. Both oil benchmarks tumbled slightly on Friday, registering a 7% decline on Thursday's prices after US President Joe Biden announced a release of 1Mbpd oil for six months starting from May. The primary objective of the release is to fulfil the disrupted oil supplies hit by Russian oil embargoes for its invasion of Ukraine.
Iron ore
Iron ore prices reached ~US$150/t, a mark not seen in the last three weeks and very close to its highest level since August 2021. The staggering rise in iron ore prices is underpinned by solid expectations of restocking demand in China with ease in coronavirus restrictions. The ongoing lockdown in various regions of China have led to transportation disruption, compelling producers to cut production amid raw material shortages.
