In July 2024:
Brent oil price was down 6.6% m/m. There were quite a few bullish events during the month, but oil maintained a consecutive 4-week decline, closing the month at US$ 80.7 per barrel. Falling US inventories and escalating tensions in the Middle East failed to counter the bearish sentiment of sluggish demand from key consumers.
Natural gas price was up 1.6% m/m. Hottest summer on record seems to have done only a little to boost the prices. Despite the surge in power-generation demand to ensure sufficient electricity for cooling, natural gas market successfully provided enough supply.
Gold price was up 5.2% m/m. Combination of geopolitical uncertainties (Trump shooting, escalation in the Middle East), favorable economic indicators (US inflation data, Fed rate cut optimism), and heightened rush to the safe haven pushed gold price above another record high in July.
Ammonium nitrate price was up 4.5% m/m. Supply of some nitrogenous fertilizers, specifically urea turns tight.
Wheat price was down 4.5% m/m. Chinese domestic market weighs heavily on the global wheat prices. Heavy rainfall in norther China urged farmers to sell their wheat as soon as possible not to have it damaged by future worse weathers.
Copper price was down 3.7% m/m. The price is down by c. 20% since the record high above $11,000 achieved in May 2024. Since then, the outlook for Chinese economy has weakened, the government failed to introduce enough measures and initiatives to boost the domestic consumption, thus investors closed out US$ 20bn worth of long positions on copper.
Ferrosilicon – European ferrosilicon price was down 7.4% m/m, while its Chinese counterpart gained 0.8% m/m. Steel and raw material prices have dipped due to slow summer period in Europe paired with weak demand.
