Analysis: Commodities

Lockdowns keep retail buyers away in top gold hubs

Retail demand for physical gold suffered this week in top Asian hubs as jewellery shops remained shut due to coronavirus restrictions, but some regions saw steady buying from investors hunting for a...

Dollar stronger as euro zone stimulus uncertainty weighs on euro

The U.S. dollar edged higher against the euro in a choppy session on Thursday after a video conference of European Union leaders looking to set up a joint fund to avert an economic collapse in parts...

Gold Fields says weathering coronavirus lockdown despite output dip

Gold Fields expects to lose 32,000 ounces of production at its South Deep mine in South Africa due to a nationwide lockdown, but has otherwise seen little impact from measures to contain the...

Banks shun aluminium financing deals, expose surplus

Banks' diminishing appetite to lend due to the coronavirus crisis mean a ballooning aluminium surplus, which previously would have been hoovered up by commodity traders using financing deals, will...

Jump in oil sends global equities higher; bonds dip

A jump in the price of oil and the promise of more government stimulus to ease the economic pain inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic helped global equity markets surge on Wednesday, prompting...

Brent crude rebounds from more-than 20-year low; U.S. oil up 20% in wild trade

Brent crude oil rebounded from two days of losses and U.S. futures surged on Wednesday, bolstered by tentative talk of additional supply cuts from OPEC producers and U.S. inventory builds that were...

Muted Ramadan, Eid amid pandemic slam seasonal rise in palm oil demand

By Mei Mei Chu and Rajendra Jadhav The palm oil market is set to miss out on a key high-demand period in 2020 as coronavirus-driven lockdowns during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan dent...

Brent oil futures plunge as growing glut feeds market panic

Brent oil futures prices plunged again on Tuesday, extending oil market panic into a second day with no end in sight to a swelling global crude glut as the coronavirus pandemic has obliterated demand...

Explainer: Why Brent oil won't follow U.S. WTI futures below zero

Brent oil futures are set for extreme volatility when the front-month June contract expires next week, but they will avoid the historic plunge below zero that U.S. peer WTI has suffered, traders and...

Thai March exports surprise, climb 4.17% as gold sales jump

Thailand's customs-based exports in March unexpectedly rose 4.17% from a year earlier, the strongest pace in eight months, boosted by shipments of gold and electronics, the commerce ministry said on...

Negative $40 oil reflects panic - and U.S. crude market economic reality

Traders desperate to avoid owning oil fled the markets on Monday, sending crude futures into negative territory for the first time ever, in recognition that the coronavirus pandemic has sapped demand...

Ivory Coast cocoa farmers hope for downpours as rains slow

Rainfall in most of Ivory Coast's cocoa regions was mainly below average last week, prompting farmers on Monday to warn of the need for heavier showers as harvesting intensifies.

Even a coronavirus crisis can't puncture palladium prices

Analysts and traders have raised their forecasts for palladium prices, predicting the metal will remain undersupplied even as the coronavirus outbreak hammers auto makers, reducing demand, a Reuters...

S.Africa's Harmony Gold to resume reduced operations during coronavirus lockdown

South Africa's Harmony Gold said on Monday it will resume operations up to 50% capacity after the government relaxed regulations on miners during the coronavirus lockdown.

Glencore reverses plan to shutter Zambia copper mines - Zambian official

Glencore told the Zambian government this week that it wants to keep operating its Zambian copper mining subsidiary Mopani Copper Mines , not shutter the operations, mines ministry permanent secretary...

Oil mixed as weak Chinese data, growing U.S. supplies offset Trump plan to ease lockdown

Oil prices were mixed on Friday, with weak Chinese economic figures and rapidly filling U.S. crude storage offsetting bullishness built on U.S. President Donald Trump's outlines for the U.S. economy...

Gold : EY whistleblower awarded $11 million after suppression of gold audit

A British court awarded $11 million in damages and expenses on Friday to a former partner at global accounting firm Ernst & Young who exposed money laundering at a major gold refinery in the United...

Coronavirus spurs new clash between Big Oil and Big Corn over U.S. biofuels

A fuel demand meltdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak in the United States has started up a new fight between the oil and agriculture industries over the nation's biofuel policy, this time over...

Barrick expects to meet annual targets despite coronavirus-led lockdowns

Barrick Gold said on Thursday it was on track to meet its full-year production targets even as it reported an 8.5% drop in first-quarter gold output due to the impact of coronavirus-driven lockdowns.