Commodity prices traded mixed this week as investors digested news of a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the US, which is a major consumer of raw materials.
Coffee was the star performer, striking a 12-year pinnacle in New York as speculative buyers dived into the market.
OIL: Crude oil prices fell this week after a steady start as Tropical Storm Bonnie departed the Gulf of Mexico, which is home to many energy installations.
The market plunged on Tuesday after a key survey showed US consumer confidence slumped to the worst level in five months.
Losses were extended mid-week after a huge unexpected jump in US crude stockpiles added to nerves over the economic outlook.
The US Department of Energy said crude oil inventories jumped 7.3 million barrels last week in the US, suggesting weaker demand.
By late on Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Texas light sweet crude for delivery in September dipped to US$77.67 a barrel, from US$78.72 the previous week.
On London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for September delivery slipped to US$77.04 compared with US$77.30 the previous week.
PRECIOUS METALS: Prices diverged, with gold falling as the glamorous metal lost its safe-haven appeal amid easing inflation concerns.
“The recent weakness in gold prices ... mainly reflects lower demand for the precious metal as a safe haven or inflation hedge,” Capital Economics analyst Julian Jessop said.
By late on Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold fell to US$1,169 an ounce from US$1,190.50 the previous week.
Silver slid to US$17.66 an ounce from US$18.17.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum climbed to US$1,555 an ounce from US$1,541.
Palladium increased to US$487 an ounce from US$460.
BASE METALS: Prices advanced across the board.
“Base metals continue to benefit from the persistently high risk appetite of market participants,” Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg said.
By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months had jumped to US$7,225 a tonne from US$7,030 a week earlier.
Three-month aluminum leapt to US$2,134 a tonne from US$2,038.
COFFEE: Coffee futures soared, striking a 12-year peak in London on keen demand from speculative buyers.
“New York led the way under speculative demand,” analyst Ralph Hawes at Sucden said.
New York Arabica coffee jumped as high as US$1.7875 on Friday, reaching the best level since February 1998.
London Robusta, meanwhile, touched US$1,810, which was the highest level since October 2008.
By Friday on LIFFE, Robusta for delivery in September stood at US$1,786 a tonne, up from US$1,724 the previous week.
On NYBOT, Arabica for September increased to US$1.7525 a pound from US$1.6670.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary