Materials Risk

Last year’s five-month strike in South Africa was expected to deplete reserves so much that prices would soar. In reality prices were broadly stable during the strike at around $1450 per ounce...

By the end of this week (Friday 20th March) there is a chance that a deal over Iran’s nuclear development may be agreed with the West. To recap, in mid-2012 sanctions were imposed against...

Aluminium for three-month delivery has declined from about $2,100 per tonne in the third quarter of 2014 to below $1,800 per tonne, the lowest since May 2014. The price on the London Metal Exchange...

The US Dollar Index (a measure of the value of the $ against a basket of foreign currencies) hit an 11 year high last week, having seen its biggest 1 year rally since 1985. What are the implications...

Is Cotton hanging by a thread? Will soft growth fray the cotton markets nerves? Will a soft market leave cotton with no cushion or is the cotton market unraveling? Whatever, it is the only major...

European gas markets are set to benefit from a surge in liquid natural gas (LNG) from Asia over the next few years, helping to allay fears over geopolitical uncertainty emanating from Russia and a...

“Yet in all societies, even those that are most vicious, the tendency to a virtuous attachment is so strong that there is a constant effort towards an increase of population. This constant...

Oil and Natural Gas prices in the US have historically tracked each other on the basis of relative energy values (oil has around 6 times the energy value of gas). Up until around 2008 any difference...

The latest US rig count data, released on Friday showed rigs in use down 90 to 1543. The total rig count is down 20% over the past eight weeks to its lowest levels since June 2010. Oil prices jumped...

Following (but not exactly hot on the heels) of the US, UK and Japan, the Euro-zone is finally about to pump billions of Euros into their economy in the hope of getting it kick started and avoid the...

Copper prices slumped to the lowest level in five and a half years yesterday (Wednesday), the metal suffering its biggest one day decline for over three years. Three-month copper on the London Metal...

With crude oil prices down more than 50% since June its worth looking at what commodities are likely to be most affected by the slump and what's happened so far.The relationship is complex though and...

The Russian government was expected to meet today (Weds 3rd Dec) to discuss the introduction of wheat export restrictions. The 62% depreciation in the Russian rouble against the US dollar since the...

US Live Cattle has been one of the few bullish commodity prices during 2014, with futures prices up over a quarter since the start of the year to around $171 per hundredweight. The surge...

The chances of an El Niño appearing over the next couple months appear to be on the increase. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology today (Tuesday) raised its estimate of an El Niño...

Could Nickel prices have fallen too far? Nickel prices jumped 6% today to around $15,600 per tonne on fears that the coming depletion of China’s nickel ore stocks, cuts to China’s nickel...