A recent Rabobank report projects a rise in global demand should bring a three-year decline in commodity prices to an end. Nebraska Farm Bureau Senior Economist Jay Rempe says that outlook should give hope to farmers and ranchers who have been struggling through the downturn in the farm economy.
He agrees with Rabobank officials that global demand for U.S. commodities is improving, especially for beef and pork as the income and diets of consumers improves around the world. Rempe is hoping the incoming Trump administration will work with ag commodity groups to expand export markets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq can’t agree how to end a fight for market share. Here we go again. Like a year ago, crude oil futures are tumbling again Tuesday as hopes for a cut in output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fade due to entrenched differences between its most important members.
The benchmark contract for U.S. crude was down 3.9% at $45.27 a barrel, after Reuters reported that Iran and Iraq–two countries who are ramping up production after years of politically-induced disruptions–are resisting pressure from Saudi Arabia to rein it in………………………………………..Full Article: Source

It’s time for the oil industry’s favorite guessing game: Will OPEC continue to flood the world with more oil, or will it finally blink and cut production? OPEC reached a preliminary deal to much fanfare in September to cut output for the first time since 2008. That tentative agreement sent crude soaring above $50 a barrel.
But there’s lingering skepticism over whether OPEC can really keep its word at Wednesday’s meeting in Vienna. Internal squabbling among OPEC members — especially Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia — has made a concrete agreement difficult to achieve………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gold was attempting a comeback of sorts in Asian trading on Monday despite relentless selling by physically-backed gold ETF investors since Donald Trump’s victory in US presidential elections.
Gold for delivery in February reached a session high of $1,200.00 an ounce, up nearly $20 or 1.6% an ounce from Friday’s closing price on the Comex market in New York. Gold is still down 10% or $140 an ounce after an initial surge following Trump’s win. On Friday gold fell to its lowest level since February………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Shanghai Gold Exchange premium soared to multi-year highs overnight, with Commerzbank citing recent news reports that China’s government may restrict the number of import licenses and MKS (Switzerland) S.A. reporting that dollar weakness also boosted the appeal of gold.
“The early-session USD weakness gave gold a boost right from the open, surging through the Friday high leading into the Shanghai session, before taking a further leg higher courtesy of Chinese interest as the SGE premium continued to trade elevated,” MKS says………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oil prices have been volatile lately flipping between hope and despair regarding a likely output curb/freeze deal at the formal OPEC meeting in Vienna on November 30. Though Iraq and Iran were reluctant to cut oil output initially, Iraq finally gave its approval.
Investors should note that this is the third time this year that the investing world is looking forward to this deal as oil price has been reeling under acute pressure for long. In the past, such attempts were made in Doha in April and in Algeria in September……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Commodities prices have begun rising from their long slump, providing good news for the embattled shipping trade. But uncertainty and ambiguity in China, whose demand dictates the prices of many resources, are casting doubts over how long the rebound can last.
The main drivers for the recent rise include China’s continued domestic stimulus and the country’s cuts in coal production, along with increased commodity speculation following the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president………………………………….Full Article: Source

Analysts expect swift fall in prices if no deal reached. Oil futures were slightly lower on Thursday, with all eyes on the coming Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting next week, where a deal to cut output is expected.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was down 0.10% to $48.90 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading 0.06% lower at $47.92 a barrel………………………………….Full Article: Source

An oil price surge triggered by a successful OPEC agreement to cut production could be snuffed out as supply surges back, according to the head of International Energy Agency.
If OPEC members agree to limit supplies at their meeting next week, prices could rise to $60 a barrel and trigger a jump in global output, particularly from U.S. shale producers, Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based IEA, said during an interview with Bloomberg Television. The output boom could put downward pressure on prices again within nine months to a year, he said………………………………….Full Article: Source

Donald Trump’s pledge to fire up the American dollar printing machine again is having the same effect on gold as did the previous three programs of quantitative easing since 2008. That added US$4.5 trillion to the global currency inventory and kneecapped what had been a nearly ten-year run in the gold price, which peaked in September 2011 at US$1,923.70.
Despite this glum statistic, financing activity in the gold sector throughout 2016 has charged forward unabated after a four-year lull ended with a sudden jump in the gold price that made the TSX Venture the best performing index in the world in the first six months of the year………………………………….Full Article: Source

James Butterfill, head of research and investment strategy at ETF Securities, has remained bullish on the outlook for gold despite the price of the commodity falling below $1,200 per ounce for the first time since February.
Butterfill said: “We maintain our gold target of $1,440 for mid-June. Aside from the risk from a Trump presidency, 70% of Europe by GDP has elections in 2017 just when populists are rising rapidly in the polls. Political risks remain high………………………………….Full Article: Source

The gold price closed in on its lowest level for ten months yesterday, hitting a nadir of $1,180 before recovering slightly. Having fallen in excess of ten per cent from a brief post-US presidential election high of $1,337, the precious metal remains under pressure ahead of an expected increase in US interest rates next month.
New figures show spending by US companies grew 4.8 per cent last month, its biggest gain in a year. Coupled with recent strong labour reports and positive rhetoric from policymakers, this has convinced traders borrowing costs will rise in December, with market bets putting the likelihood near 100 per cent………………………………….Full Article: Source

Global food prices are set to remain low in 2017, keeping pressure on many farm commodity prices, say analysts at Rabobank. While the drop in sterling has firmed prices for many UK farm outputs, large parts of the food and agriculture sector need to be prepared to keep working in a low-priced environment, said the Dutch food and agribusiness bank in its Global Outlook 2017 report.
Climate and economic risks will persist and there will be short-term price moves despite the overall low price environment, said the outlook…………………………………Full Article: Source

Next week’s OPEC meeting could send oil back to $50, but investors may want to curb their enthusiasm. In a note from RBC Capital Markets on Tuesday, head of commodity strategy Helima Croft wrote that OPEC would “stick the landing” at its Nov. 30 meeting and finally draw a long-awaited agreement.
The main player will be the world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Arabia, as Croft believes that the Saudis now have incentive to agree to production cuts. “I think the burden is going to be heavier on Saudi Arabia [because they have] key policy priorities, they want the IPO of Saudi Aramco,” Croft said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Futures Now.”………………………………..Full Article: Source

PM indicates willingness to ‘shoulder responsibility’ for Opec production reductions. Iraq’s prime minister said the country is willing to cut some of its own production, in a move that could smooth the way to a supply deal when Opec, the oil cartel, meets next week.
Haider al-Abadi said Iraq would “shoulder responsibility” for some of the planned reductions of the 14-member group’s output to bolster the oil price, according to comments reported by Reuters…………………………………Full Article: Source

Growing speculation that the Opec nations and Russia will agree output cuts at a meeting next week sent the price of Brent crude surging to its highest level in three weeks.
Prices were boosted by comments from a Nigerian official attending an Opec technical meeting, which is trying to hammer out details of a deal, that it was likely all countries would be “on board” by the end of yesterday…………………………………Full Article: Source

Gold prices are solidly lower, hit a nine-month low and have fallen below key chart support at $1,200.00 in early U.S. trading Wednesday. The bearish near-term technical postures for gold and silver markets continue to invite chart-based selling interest.
Sell stop orders were triggered in the Comex gold futures market when prices breached the $1,200.00 level. A higher U.S. dollar index today is also a bearish outside market force working against the precious metals market bulls………………………………..Full Article: Source

The platinum/palladium discount is in focus this week, with palladium creeping closer to platinum in dollar-terms, although parity is unlikely near-term, according to sources. As of 1005 GMT Wednesday morning, palladium was spot bid at $742/oz with platinum at $938/oz.
This is the tightest the two prices have been in over five years. The last time they traded at parity was back in 2000. Palladium traded above platinum in 2000/2001 when it spiked to more than $1,000/oz after Russian exports were suspended…………………………………Full Article: Source

Russia is strongly backing the cartel and said it is ready to support an Opec decision. It sees a big chance of the cartel agreeing on the terms of a freeze by November 30, 2016, at its meeting scheduled in Vienna.
Iran has given a clear indication that it will not be attending the meeting. Iraq and Iran both want exemptions from any Opec output cut, putting pressure on Saudi Arabia, the producer group’s biggest member, to bear the brunt of a possible reduction………………………………………Full Article: Source

Oil surged for a third day on signs OPEC members have made progress toward finalizing a deal to cut output. January futures rose as much as 1.5 percent in New York after the December contract expired 3.9 percent higher Monday.
Talks on assigning quotas to individual countries went well, Libyan OPEC Governor Mohamed Oun said after preliminary meetings at the group’s headquarters in Vienna. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it’s now “tactically bullish” on the likelihood of an agreement……………………………………..Full Article: Source

If oil prices are going to rebound, a few countries that have spent two years trying to edge each other out of crude markets will have to learn to cooperate.
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have suffered serious economic pain as oil prices have languished over the last two years. But OPEC’s largest producers —Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran — as well as nonmember Russia — have all pumped their way through the rout, seeking to capture more business to offset the falling value of their lifeblood product………………………………………Full Article: Source

Gold prices extended their rebound from nine-month lows to score back-to-back gains on Tuesday as the rally in the U.S. dollar stalled. Gold has been “hit pretty hard in the last couple of weeks and…is stabilizing and base building just as [the U.S. dollar] has become exhausted and has started to level off,” Colin Cieszynski, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, told MarketWatch.
The dollar “remains vulnerable to a correction should traders decide to take some profits around the Thanksgiving holiday weekend,” he said………………………………………Full Article: Source

TD Securities does not anticipate a complete collapse in gold and suggests any price dips below the $1,200-an-ounce level “should be bought.” Gold tumbled over the last two weeks on a higher U.S. dollar, steepening yield curve and expected rise in so-called carry costs, TDS says.
Higher yields and a strong dollar could drive still more traders away from still-elevated long positions, TDS says, meaning potential for gold to slip below $1,200. “But a rout is not expected, as the U.S. central bank is likely to continue to message a very measured approach,” TDS says………………………………………Full Article: Source

Prices of steel and its raw materials soared to hit their trade limits in China on Tuesday as investors returned to the market to pick up sold-off commodities, but a shaky demand outlook suggests the gains would again be fleeting.
Chinese rebar steel and raw materials like coal and iron ore pulled back from this month’s multi-year highs after exchanges in Shanghai, Dalian and Zhengzhou cracked down on speculative trading by raising transaction charges………………………………………Full Article: Source

Growing hopes for an Opec deal on production has helped the oil price continue its rebound after hitting three-month lows last week. Iran, one of the most stubbornly resistant members of the 14-nation cartel, has been offered an exemption from export cuts so long as it agrees to “at least cap production” at its pre-international sanctions level, Reuters reports.
It adds: “This would leave the onus of an outright reduction on other Opec members, including its political rival and de-facto Opec leader Saudi Arabia.”…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gold threatened to breach the $1,200 level on Friday before rebounding. The sentiment was helped by word that the Russian central bank added 1.3 million ounces to reserves in October and that was before the price drop. The Chinese and Russians have been supporting the market below $1,250 this month, which is helping to offset the large futures and ETF liquidation.
The outflow from gold ETFs last week alone was 19 tons, and the net long futures positions through Tuesday was the lowest since March. As a December rate hike seems to be a done deal and already reflected in the Fed funds and the dollar rally it seems that being short gold at this point has limited downside…………………………………….Full Article: Source

The conventional wisdom had gold prices skyrocketing in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. presidential election, which put Donald Trump into the White House. But that hasn’t been the case, with gold future sliding through November, with two consecutive weekly price declines leading up to November 19. Last week, December gold futures slid by $7.60, to just over $1,200 per ounce - a nine-month low.
Gold prices rebounded moderately in Monday trading, gaining back 0.4%, to $1,213 an ounce. But a stronger dollar (at a 13-year high) and an imminent Federal Reserve rate hike have gold gurus taking a skeptical tone on the precious metal…………………………………….Full Article: Source

The possible implications of a Trump presidency in the United States are spurring notable movements in other commodities apart from oil. Copper, in particular, has put in a stellar showing. Prices soared to a 17-month high following the Nov 8 election, and were up 18.6 per cent as at last Friday since the start of the year.
The surge was fuelled largely by hopes that more spending in the US - as promised by President-elect Donald Trump - would lead to higher demand……………………………………Full Article: Source

Regional competition and the lack of a cooperation strategy with its neighbors are compounding Saudi Arabia’s inability to act as an oil price setter. The 70 percent drop in oil prices from their all-time highs in 2014 to the current lows of an average of $47 dollars per barrel is severely affecting all hydrocarbon producers, but especially Saudi Arabia.
The many overlapping reasons for the slump include an oil glut, lower demand, and the expansion of U.S. shale extraction. But none contribute more to the continued suppression of prices as the oil pricing wars between neighboring countries of the Middle East……………………………………Full Article: Source

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh expressed optimism on Saturday about an upcoming OPEC meeting and said crude prices could jump to $55 a barrel if an agreement is reached and non-OPEC producers cooperate.
“We are receiving positive signals that increase the likelihood of agreement at the meeting … and I’m optimistic about the situation,” Zanganeh told state television by telephone, after meeting OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo in Tehran ahead of the Nov. 30 meeting……………………………………Full Article: Source

While we expected additional weakness in Gold and gold stocks (weeks ago) we did not quite expect the kind of selling the sector experienced in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory.
The market reacted by sending bond yields dramatically higher which resulted in stronger real interest rates, which is fundamentally negative for precious metals. This has created significant technical damage in the sector and has potentially thrown the 2016 bull off course……………………………………Full Article: Source

Gold has fallen by more than 5% since Election Day, to $1,209 an ounce, although it’s poised to end 2016 sharply higher than its year-end 2015 close of $1,060 an ounce. Where will the yellow metal go next?
Dan Oliver, Principal, Myrmikan Capital: “Higher. We’re coming to the end of one of the biggest credit bubbles ever, caused by U.S. government–underwritten fractional reserve banking and artificially low interest rates. There’s little that Donald Trump can do to stop it.”…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Copper stood out among the hottest commodities in the past one month, as prices of the base metal surged nearly 20 per cent on hopes of improving demand from top consumer China and a steady decline in stocks at warehouses.
The rally was fuelled by optimism over robust demand from the US on expectation of increased infrastructure spending under president-elect Donald Trump. Trump has pledged to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure over the next 10 years, which has fuelled demand expectation……………………………………Full Article: Source

Years of drought brought by the weather cycle El Nino to South and Southeast Asia, home to the world’s biggest rice traders, have given way once more to soaking rains, boosting harvests of the region’s major staple crop and sending prices tumbling to 10-year lows.
A combination of improved harvests, significant inventories due to government policies and commodities market speculation, contracting export demand and programs to boost rice production for Asia’s biggest importers have led to widespread problems for farmers and subsequent intervention by regional administrations……………………………………….Full Article: Source

U.S. shale oil producers will increase their output if oil prices hit $60 a barrel, meaning OPEC will have to walk a fine line if it curtails production to prop up prices, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
OPEC members are due to meet in Vienna at the end of the month to push through the first output limiting deal since 2008. “If this decision pushes the prices up (to) around $60 dollars, we may well see a significant increase from shale oil from the U.S.,” Fatih Birol said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Russian energy minister’s comments boost crude, but prices are dragged down by growing stockpiles. Crude oil settled lower after flipping between gains and losses Wednesday, as renewed optimism that major oil producers could agree to scale back production competed with data showing that crude supplies are still swelling.
Prices began to move higher Wednesday afternoon after Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters at a Moscow energy forum that Russia would “support any decision” adopted by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to media reports………………………………………..Full Article: Source

BMI Research has revised its forecast gold price for 2017 downwards to $1 300/oz, from the previously anticipated $1 400/oz. This, after Republican candidate Donald Trump was elected the next President of the US, resulting in a sharp decline in gold prices.
“We see limited room for a rebound over the coming weeks,” the research firm said in its short-term view, noting that global bond yields have broken higher and look set to continue gaining as market expectations for economic growth, inflation and interest rates are repriced for a Trump Presidency………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Metal had been as $1,230 a troy ounce earlier in session; silver also loses ground. Investors have hammered the metal in recent weeks, as better economic data made a December rate increase by the Federal Reserve more likely and political uncertainty faded after U.S. presidential elections.
Gold struggles to compete with yield-bearing investments when rates rise. Some investors also use the metal as a haven during tumultuous times, believing it holds its value better than other assets when markets get rocky………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The head of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. says it will take more than Donald Trump to keep copper rallying. “In terms of being a long-term driver of copper prices, it will have an impact but not a huge impact,” Richard Adkerson, chief executive officer of the world’s largest publicly traded copper miner, said.
“For copper demand to be robust requires a positive economic situation in China, in the world’s global economy.” U.S. President-elect Trump has promised to rebuild America, a goal that includes a $550 billion transportation infrastructure plan………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oil prices jumped 6 percent on Tuesday, with U.S. crude notching its biggest daily percentage gain in seven months, on renewed expectations that OPEC will agree later this month to reduce a global supply glut.
OPEC secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo will travel to member nations, including Iran and Venezuela, over the next several days to discuss the deal ahead of the group’s meeting in Vienna on Nov. 30. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to an outline of the deal in September but with two weeks to go before the next meeting, disagreements persist among OPEC members and non-OPEC Russia on the exact details of the deal………………………………….Full Article: Source

After shaking up iron ore, steel and coal futures this year, Chinese investors have taken on copper. The metal used in cables and wiring jumped 11 percent last week, the most since 2011, as President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to spend as much as $1 trillion on infrastructure boosted the outlook for demand. But the impetus for the surge probably had its origins elsewhere, namely in China.
China’s retail traders and funds have been buying copper in Shanghai since the start of November after the country’s exchanges boosted margins on other commodities, according to Citigroup Inc………………………………….Full Article: Source

The gold price should rise in the medium and long term on global risks and the Trump Presidency, according to leading research consultancy Capital Economics.
The recent sharp gold price fall is again causing jitters among some investors who forget that gold remains more than 14% higher in dollar terms, 16.5% higher in euro terms and 36% higher in sterling terms year to date. Thus, gold is outperforming most stock market indices so far this year………………………………….Full Article: Source

Precious metal gets a boost from hopes for stronger U.S. auto sales. Palladium prices on Tuesday rose to their highest in more than five weeks, bolstered by hopes of stronger auto sales in the U.S.
Palladium for December delivery closed up 1.2% at $705.95 a troy ounce, its highest settlement since October 3. Prices are up 14% this month. Driving the rally were hopes that U.S. car sales would rise in coming months, boosting demand for the metal, which is used to scrub emissions from gasoline engines………………………………….Full Article: Source

In a major shift in economic trends, prices of raw materials started surging in October, possibly signaling that emerging economies are finally regaining strength after going through a distinctly rough patch. The shift may be behind the recent stock market rally and the jump in long-term interest rates in the U.S.
While the surprise outcome of the U.S. presidential election triggered wild movement in stock, bond and currency markets, commodities have been mostly insulated from its impact……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Jeremy Baker, commodity and alternative investment product manager at Vontobel, has warned the price of Brent crude could fall to $30 a barrel if OPEC’s proposed deal to limit oil supply falls through.
With Brent crude trading at $46 a barrel (as at 9 November), this would mark a significant drop for the commodity, which briefly came under pressure last week following the unexpected result of Donald Trump winning the US Presidential Election, before rebounding……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) estimates that crude oil supply could outstrip demand by 730,000 bpd (barrels per day) in 1Q17. High US crude oil, gasoline, and distillate inventories, the strengthening dollar, and rising US crude oil rigs could also pressure crude oil prices.
The failure of OPEC’s (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) plan to cap production and successful implementation of Donald Trump’s energy policies would mean a period of lower crude oil prices. Goldman Sachs (GS) expects that the failure of OPEC’s meeting could see US crude oil prices test $40 per barrel in the short term……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Some say yes because low prices give consumers more money and cut manufacturing costs. Others say the damage to the oil sector cancels out the benefits. Oil prices have been on a wild ride lately.
From late 2010 to late 2014, U.S. crude traded between roughly $80 and $110 a barrel. Then came a plunge. Earlier this year, they were down to around $26—but then soared to $50 in early June, signaling that a longstanding oil glut might be waning……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oil prices were largely steady on Monday, rebounding from three-month lows, on a report saying that OPEC members were seeking to resolve their differences on a deal to cut production ahead of a meeting later this month.
OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and fellow exporters Iran and Iraq have been at odds over how to rein in supply to reduce a glut in global markets. The lack of agreement within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries following a tentative deal in September has put pressure on benchmark prices……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Copper prices rose Monday amid continued market optimism that a Trump presidency would boost infrastructure spending in the U.S. Copper for December delivery settled up 0.5% at $2.5210 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, closing near its highest level in more than a year.
The gains extended a multiweek rally for the industrial metal, which picked up steam after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election last week……………………………………..Full Article: Source

As the price of gold and silver came down sharply, many investors are asking what the future price of gold will be. Although we do not pretend to have a crystal ball, we observe sufficient signals in the charts to make a make a call about the future price of gold into 2017.
In general, the precious metals market has turned very sour. Gold registered it largest loss on a weekly basis since it crashed in 2013. Moreover, gold and silver miners, said to lead the precious metals complex, have truly crashed this past week…………………………………….Full Article: Source