Crude oil prices hit a one-year high of US$82 and metals rallied this week as the US currency struck a 14-month low against the euro as investors took on greater risk amid signs of recovery, traders said.
Among the soft commodities, cocoa prices struck 24-year highs on prospects of a poor crop in leading producer Ivory Coast. Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates said a weak dollar “precipitated some buying in the commodities market, not only in oil.”
The European single currency jumped above US$1.50 on Wednesday for the first time since August last year as investors looked beyond the safe-haven US unit, of which the super-low interest rates are no longer attractive as recovery takes hold.
OIL: Oil prices rallied in the past week, with New York crude hitting a one-year high of US$82, driven by a weak dollar and optimism over the global economic recovery, analysts said.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, touched US$82 a barrel on Wednesday — a level last seen on Oct. 14 last year.
The falling dollar makes dollar-priced oil cheaper for buyers holding stronger currencies, and therefore tends to stimulate crude demand and eventually prices.
OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem El-Badri said in London on Thursday that the cartel would consider ramping up crude oil production at its next meeting in December should economic growth improve and other conditions be met.
The cartel “will not hesitate to increase its production in December,” he told reporters, adding the decision was dependent also on higher oil prices and no floating storage of crude.
By Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), light sweet crude for delivery in November rose to US$80.48 dollars compared with US$77.32 for the expired November contract a week earlier.
On London’s InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for December delivery climbed to US$78.91 from US$75.93 dollars a week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: The price of gold rose but failed to beat its recent record high of US$1,070.80 an ounce.
Gold hit an all-time high the previous week as the dollar weakened before falling on profit-taking. Platinum and palladium reached their highest levels in more than a year.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold climbed to US$1,061.75 an ounce from US$1,047.50 a week earlier.
Silver gained to US$17.65 an ounce from US$17.31.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum advanced to US$1,372 an ounce at the late fixing on Friday from US$1,346.
Palladium firmed to US$338 an ounce from US$326.
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
TECH EFFECT: While Chiayi County was the oldest region in the nation, Hsinchu county and city, home of the nation’s chip industry, were the youngest, the report showed Seven of the nation’s administrative regions, encompassing 57.2 percent of Taiwan’s townships and villages, became “super-aged societies” in June, the Ministry of the Interior said in its latest report. A region is considered super-aged if 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or older. The ministry report showed that Taiwan had 4,391,744 people aged 65 or older as of June, representing 18.76 percent of the total population and an increase of 1,024,425 people compared with August 2018. In June, the nation’s elderly dependency ratio was 27.3 senior citizens per 100 working-aged people, an increase of 7.39 people over August 2018, it said. That
‘UNITED FRONT’: The married couple allegedly produced talk show videos for platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to influence Taiwan’s politics A husband and wife affiliated with the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) were indicted yesterday for allegedly receiving NT$74 million (US$2.32 million) from China to make radio and digital media propaganda to promote the Chinese government’s political agenda and influence the outcome of Taiwan’s elections. Chang Meng-chung (張孟崇) and his wife, Hung Wen-ting (洪文婷), allegedly received a total of NT$74 million from China between 2021 and last year to promote candidates favored by Beijing, contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and election laws, the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office said. The couple acted as Beijing’s propaganda mouthpiece by disparaging Hong Kong democracy activists
EARLY ARRIVALS: The first sets of HIMARS purchased from the US arrived ahead of their scheduled delivery, with troops already training on the platforms, a source said The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said it spotted 35 Chinese military aircraft, including fighters and bombers, flying to the south of Taiwan proper on the way to exercises in the Pacific, a second consecutive day it has reported such activities. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not respond to a request for comment on the missions, reported just days before tomorrow’s US presidential election. The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Its arms sales to Taipei include a US$2 billion missile system announced last month. The MND said that from 9am yesterday,