World commodity prices mostly rose this week as markets digested a mixed outlook for the global economy.
World economic recovery is slowing faster than expected and extra stimulus from governments may be needed, although another recession remains “unlikely,” the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Thursday.
OIL: World oil prices rose slightly thanks to supportive data and a pipeline closure late in the week.
By late on Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October rose to US$77.63 from US$77.24 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, Texas light sweet crude for October jumped to US$75.86 a barrel compared with US$75.07.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold again got close to its record high and silver hit the highest level for more than two years before falling on profit-taking.
This week, silver hit US$20.15 an ounce — the highest point since March 2008.
By late on Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold rose to US$1,246.50 an ounce from US$1,240.50 a week earlier.
Silver rallied to US$19.90 an ounce from US$19.66.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum dropped to US$1,545 an ounce from US$1,553.
Palladium fell to US$518 an ounce from US$524.
BASE METALS: Base or industrial metals traded mixed.
By late on Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months fell to US$7,555 a tonne from US$7,697.
Three-month aluminum fell to US$2,105 a tonne from US$2,161.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Maize prices hit the highest levels for nearly two years on robust demand and smaller than expected US output.
Prices hit US$4.795 a bushel on Friday in Chicago — the highest level since October 2008.
By Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade, wheat for delivery in December fell to US$7.28 a bushel from US$7.41 the previous week.
Maize for December gained to US$4.74 a bushel from US$4.64.
November-dated soyabean meal — used in animal feed — edged up to US$10.36 a bushel from US$10.35.
COFFEE: Coffee futures struck new 13-year pinnacles in New York.
Prices hit US$1.9865 a pound (0.45kg) in New York — the highest level since 1997.
By Friday on the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), Arabica for delivery in December rose to US$1.9260 a pound from US$1.8565 the previous week.
On LIFFE — London’s futures exchange — Robusta for November fell to US$1,588 a tonne from US$1,630.
COCOA: Prices touched fresh one-year lows on concerns over the harvest from leading producer Ivory Coast.
Prices hit £1,846 a tonne in London and US$2,615 a tonne in New York — the lowest points since September and July last year respectively.
By Friday on NYBOT, cocoa for delivery in December fell to US$2,641 a tonne from US$2,748 a week earlier.
On LIFFE, cocoa for December dropped to £1,853 a tonne from £1,953.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Wednesday said that a new chip manufacturing technology called “A16” is to enter production in the second half of 2026, setting up a showdown with longtime rival Intel over who can make the fastest chips. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract manufacturer of advanced computing chips and a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple, announced the news at a conference in Santa Clara, California, where TSMC executives said that makers of artificial intelligence (AI) chips will likely be the first adopters of the technology rather than a smartphone maker. Analysts said that the technologies announced on
NO RECIPROCITY: Taipei has called for cross-strait group travel to resume fully, but Beijing is only allowing people from its Fujian Province to travel to Matsu, the MAC said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday criticized an announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism that it would lift a travel ban to Taiwan only for residents of China’s Fujian Province, saying that the policy does not meet the principles of reciprocity and openness. Chinese Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Rao Quan (饒權) yesterday morning told a delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers in a meeting in Beijing that the ministry would first allow Fujian residents to visit Lienchiang County (Matsu), adding that they would be able to travel to Taiwan proper directly once express ferry
CALL FOR DIALOGUE: The president-elect urged Beijing to engage with Taiwan’s ‘democratically elected and legitimate government’ to promote peace President-elect William Lai (賴清德) yesterday named the new heads of security and cross-strait affairs to take office after his inauguration on May 20, including National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to be the new defense minister and former Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) as minister of foreign affairs. While Koo is to head the Ministry of National Defense and presidential aide Lin is to take over as minister of foreign affairs, Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) would be retained as the nation’s intelligence chief, continuing to serve as director-general of the National Security Bureau, Lai told a news conference in Taipei. Koo,
MANAGING DIFFERENCES: In a meeting days after the US president signed a massive foreign aid bill, Antony Blinken raised concerns with the Chinese president about Taiwan US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and senior Chinese officials, stressing the importance of “responsibly managing” the differences between the US and China as the two sides butt heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues, including Taiwan and the South China Sea. Talks between the two sides have increased over the past few months, even as differences have grown. Blinken said he raised concerns with Xi about Taiwan and the South China Sea, along with China’s support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, as well as other issues