Every week, the commodities overview allows you to review the news on the commodities markets in order to better understand variations in the prices of energy, metals and agricultural raw materials.
Energy : A look back for oil prices, which recorded a significant decline last week. The risk premium linked to geopolitical frictions is diminishing with hopes of a possible ceasefire in Gaza. Furthermore, the latest data on weekly stocks in the United States clearly weighed on the trend since stocks increased by 7.3 million barrels, while economists expected a contraction of 2.3 million. North Sea Brent is trading around USD 83.30 while US WTI is trading at USD 78.30 per barrel. This price weakness should encourage OPEC+ to extend its production quotas beyond June.
Metals : Copper is catching its breath after reaching the USD 10,000 per tonne mark in London. Like oil, the price of copper and more broadly industrial metals remains dependent on the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve. An environment of high rates for longer could weigh on overall demand. Still in London, aluminum fell to 2577 USD (spot price), while zinc stabilized at 2880 USD. Gold continues a second week of decline to 2300 USD. Short-term price weakness which, however, masks the appetite of central banks, which continue to accumulate the gold metal. The World Gold Council reveals in its latest report that central banks added 290 tonnes of gold to their reserves during the first quarter.
Agricultural products : Cocoa prices are deflating, and not just a little since they have fallen by almost 30% this week. In the rest of the compartment, a bushel of wheat is losing ground in Chicago to 610 cents while corn is progressing modestly to 460 cents.
