We are delighted to provide our new product – commodity monthly outlook – covering oil, natural gas, ammonium nitrate, wheat, copper, ferrosilicon and gold global price dynamics, along with Georgia’s external trade of these commodities.
In May 2023:
Brent oil price was down 0.9% m/m, after a rapid increase in oil prices in Apr-23 following OPEC announcement on production cuts.
Natural gas price was down 42.5% m/m. The gradual decline in prices could be attributed to milder weather, slowing global economic activity and gas-saving measures in Europe.
Ammonium nitrate price was down 19.2% m/m. Fertilizer prices have been decreasing since end-21 and decline is largely attributed to falling natural gas prices.
Wheat price was down 9.1% m/m. According to World Bank, due to anticipation of good harvests average annual price of wheat is expected to decrease in 2023.
Copper price was down 5.0% m/m. Overall, copper price has been relatively stable in 2023 so far, ranging between US$ 8,500 and US$ 9,000 per ton.
Ferrosilicon prices – Chinese and European – were down by 3.9% m/m and 7.3% m/m, respectively. Chinese property sector crisis and zero-COVID policy on the one hand, and negative macroeconomic sentiments in Europe on the other, have put pressure on the demand since 2H22.
Gold price was down 2.1% m/m. Gold is deemed to be safe-haven asset during periods of uncertainty and high inflation and the demand for it has been increasing amid US/European banking crisis in 2023.
