ISTANBUL
The past week was a “rally week” for the commodity markets due to the expectation that the US Federal Reserve might raise interest rates more slowly along with the decreasing demand for the dollar.
Despite the ongoing risks regarding the real estate crisis in China, the rise in the commodity markets remained.
Last week, gold gained 2.2%, silver 9.5%, palladium 4.2%, and platinum 2.6%.
Analysts said that after the Fed increased the policy rate by 75 basis points in line with the expectations, chairman Jerome Powell’s softer message for the next meetings raised the demand for gold.
Metals have been dominated by an uptrend over the last week.
Copper increased by 5.9%, lead 1.2%, nickel 2%, and zinc 9.4%.
Brent crude gained 4% last week, with the increasing supply concerns in global markets being effective in the rise in prices.
Russia’s energy giant Gazprom announced last week that a Siemens turbine engine, used for the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, has been halted for technical reasons and the amount of natural gas shipped through the line will decrease.
The drop in the commercial crude oil stocks of the US, falling by 4.5 million barrels last week, was effective in the rise in the price of Brent oil.
The news flow that the G7 countries aim to create a price limiting mechanism in Russian oil exports until Dec. 5 — the date that the EU sanctions prohibiting Russian oil imports by sea will become effective — also raised the prices.
Rise in agricultural commodities cannot be stopped
The agricultural commodities have also seen sharp rises over the past week.
Wheat trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange rose by 7%, corn 10.3%, soybeans 12%, and rice 0.1%.
The optimism in wheat prices with the July 22 grain corridor agreement dissipated when Russia hit the Odesa port in Ukraine. On July 22, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal to reopen three Ukrainian ports for grain that has been stuck for months due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war that started on Feb. 24.
A Russian official’s statement that the grain deal may collapse if the barriers to Russian exports are not removed, also raised the wheat prices.
Meanwhile, increasing global temperatures triggered the rise in soybean, corn, and rice prices.
Coffee rose 5.3%, cocoa 1.4%, and cotton 6.4%, while sugar lost 1.8%.
Along with the decline in the dollar index, reaction purchases in commodities and the recovery in asset prices had a positive impact on cocoa, coffee, and cotton prices, while, coffee prices have also seen rises with the increase in exports.
