Commodity prices traded mixed this week amid caution over future demand for raw materials despite positive economic data from the US and Europe, where recession ended for some countries.
Sugar prices reached a 28-year peak, however, pushed higher by tight supplies of the commodity.
OIL: Crude prices fell from a week earlier as the market focused on the outlook for crude demand, which analysts said was not rosy despite improving economic data from around the globe.
“Brent should slip back to US$72 and eventually US$70, once the euphoria subsides,” VTB Capital commodities analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said in London.
By Friday on London’s InterContinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in September dropped to US$73.74 a barrel from US$74.33 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude for September slipped to US$70.01 a barrel from US$71.43 one week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold prices edged lower. By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold fell to US$953.50 an ounce from US$956 a week earlier.
Silver gained to US$14.98 an ounce from US$14.65.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum grew to US$1,267 an ounce at the late fixing on Friday from US$1,260.
Palladium rose to US$277.50 an ounce from US$271.
BASE METALS: Copper, nickel and zinc struck multi-month highs.
By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months jumped to US$6,373 a tonne from US$5,969 last week.
SUGAR: Sugar prices hit a 28-year high of £589.90 a tonne in London and they also reached the highest point since 1983 in New York.
Global sugar prices are likely to stay high in the coming year as India, the world’s largest consumer of the commodity, reels from poor monsoon rains that will force it to rely on imports.
By Friday on London’s futures exchange, the price of a tonne of white sugar for delivery in October gained to £589.40 from £536 a week earlier. On the New York Board of Trade, the price of unrefined sugar for October climbed to US$0.2218 a pound (0.45kg) from US$0.2046.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a