Commodities enjoyed a bright start to the year, with oil bouncing above US$83 and sugar striking a 29-year high as traders eyed recovery hopes despite poor US jobs data.
“We have been highlighting for some time that there is still considerable upside risk to commodity prices in early 2010,” Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish said in a research note to clients.
Markets tailed off somewhat on Friday as traders digested news that the US, a major consumer of raw materials, shed more jobs than expected last month.
OIL: The market jumped in the first trading week of the year, largely because of a cold snap across the northern hemisphere which boosted heating fuel demand but players pared gains after a downbeat US jobs report.
New York crude topped US$83 on Wednesday for the first time in 14 months before closing lower on Thursday for the first time in 10 sessions as traders banked profits.
Oil begun the year with a bang on Monday, soaring by more than US$2 as freezing temperatures spread. Reports that Russia had cut supplies to Belarus also helped push prices higher, but officials in Belarus later denied the reports.
Gains for oil tailed off toward the end of the week in the wake of the latest US energy inventory data and the downbeat US non-farm payrolls report.
By late on Friday, New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery next month, rallied to US$82.22 a barrel from US$79.36 on Thursday of the previous week.
London’s Brent North Sea crude for next month advanced to US$81.05 from US$77.93.
PRECIOUS METALS: Platinum and palladium prices soared to equal recent highs after the US launch of exchange traded funds (ETFs) for both metals.
Platinum rallied as high as US$1,578 per ounce, the best level since August 2008 while palladium hit US$434.25 an ounce, the best since July that year.
By Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold rose to US$1,126.75 an ounce, from US$1,104 the previous Thursday before the New Year holiday break.
Silver soared to US$18.12 an ounce from US$16.99.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum soared to US$1,569 an ounce from US$1,466.
Palladium jumped to US$431 an ounce from US$402.
BASE METALS: Base metals diverged but copper hit multi-month highs on news of a strike in key producer Chile which was later settled.
Copper struck US$7,796 per tonne on Thursday, its highest level since August 2008.
By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months jumped to US$7,525 a tonne from US$7,408 on Thursday the previous week.
SUGAR: Sugar prices scaled 29-year highs, lifted by predictions of lower output in emerging economic giant India.
By Friday on the New York Board of Trade, the price of unrefined sugar for March rose to US$0.2814 a pound from US$0.2724 on Thursday the previous week.
On LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, the price of a tonne of white sugar for delivery in March climbed to £730.30 from £706.30.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from