Commodity prices were mixed this week, heading toward the end of a year in which the values of raw materials such as oil and gold were determined largely by global economic strains and recovery hopes.
OIL: Oil prices rose in limited trading this week amid both the festive season and a stalemate in talks to avert the “fiscal cliff” of US tax hikes and spending cuts.
For next year, analysts predict a drop in oil demand growth which could weigh on high crude prices despite Middle East unrest.
Benchmark Brent crude oil futures have traded around US$110 a barrel for the past two months, benefiting major crude producers like Saudi Arabia and Iran, while putting a strain on main consumers the US and China.
Despite geopolitical tensions across the oil-rich Middle East, analysts said prices could drop next year should a world economic recovery falter.
Brent prices hit this year’s high of US$128.40 a barrel on March 1 amid escalating tensions over Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program and the euro debt crisis before slumping in late June to US$88.49 because of weak demand expectations.
By Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or light sweet crude for delivery in February rose to US$90.97 a barrel from US$88.40 a week earlier.
On London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for February rose to US$110.72 from US$108.88 the prior week.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold prices for next year were forecast to build on a 50 percent gain recorded this eyar.
“We continue to expect the precious metal to reach new record highs of at least US$2,000 [an ounce] in 2013,” said Julian Jessop, commodities analyst at Capital Economics research group.
“The monetary, regulatory and macroeconomic backdrops should still be positive, demand from China and India is likely to accelerate again, and central banks will probably continue buying,” he said.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold rose to US$1,657.50 an ounce from US$1,651.50 a week earlier.
Silver gained to US$30.15 an ounce from US$29.89.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum dipped to US$1,527 an ounce from US$1,533. Palladium gained to US$704 an ounce from US$675.
BASE METALS: Base or industrial metals traded mixed at the end of a volatile year for prices. Losses early this year due to the eurozone debt crisis gave way to a rebound late on in the year thanks to US stimulus measures and improved Chinese economic data.
“Metals prices are likely to carry their momentum over into the new year, and continue their uptrend in 2013,” driven mainly by a global economic recovery, Commerzbank analysts said in a note to clients.
By late Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months rose to US$7,888 a tonne from US$7,802 a week earlier. Three-month aluminum slipped to US$2,067 per tonne from US$2,070, while three-month lead grew to US$2,325 a tonne from US$2,291.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day