Page 104 - MEX-Yearbook-2017

MEX Almanac

September 2017

Precious Metals reduce the global crude surplus. After the Hurricane Harvey in the United
September observed a bearish trend in precious metals except for palladium. States, the demand for oil started to increase. As the impact of Hurricane
Gold declined as easing concerns over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and Harvey slowed down, the refineries started increasing the production which
the impact of Hurricane Irma slowed demand for the metal while the dollar increased its supply, but since the demand was also high, the price went up.
strengthened. Silver prices declined as participants reduced their exposure However, the prices of natural gas fell down owing to the fact that there
after the metal prices fell in the global markets. Both gold and silver price was a rise in the natural gas reserve in the United States. According to a
fell to its lowest after the Federal Reserve signaled that it was on track weekly report of the US Energy Information Center, natural gas reserves
to raise U.S. interest rates again in December. Platinum price reached increased by 65 billion cubic feet, which was more than 64 billion cubic
its lowest level in six weeks as the tensions eased over the North Korea. feet compared to the market estimates.
The metal declined after the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC)
reported that the global platinum market moved back into a surplus during Brent Crude Open Close % Change
the second quarter. According to the WPIC, the platinum market moved Crude Oil 5282.00 5669.00 7.33%
into surplus during the quarter as a rise in refined supply and a drop in Heating Oil 4731.00 5161.00 9.09%
automotive and industrial demand erased the prior quarter’s 305,000-ounce Natural Gas 45.98 47.77 3.89%
deficit. Palladium price inclined since the metal has benefitted from the 303.30 301.50 -0.59%
switch to petrol engines and expectations for growth in hybrid electric
vehicles, which tend to be gasoline-powered.

Gold Open Close % Change Agro
Silver 42467.50 41237.50 -2.90% Except for wheat, soybean and cocoa, the agro commodities observed
Platinum 566.70 535.90 -5.43% bearish pattern in September. Technical buying and short-covering boosted
Palladium 32180.00 29420.00 -8.58% the price of cocoa. Anticipated favorable rainy weather coming sooner than
29980.00 30053.00 0.24% expected in top-grower Brazil and a technical sell-off led to the reduction
in prices of coffee. Favorable conditions for the U.S. harvest increased
Base Metals expectations of good yields which added pressures on prices, as a result
The decline in the price of copper can be attributed to a lot of factors. the corn prices fell. The cotton prices observed a bearish trend. After a
Copper hit its lowest in more than a month after the Federal Reserve raised high cotton price in the past six months, the price of cotton came down as
expectations of another U.S. interest rate hike this year, boosting the dollar. demand was picking up with the favorable monsoon and festive season.
The Fed said that it expected one more increase by the end of the year, The price of soybeans observed a bullish trend as a consequence of strong
driving the dollar to a two-month high making dollar-priced metals costlier demand, weak U.S. dollar, and dry weather concerns in Brazil. Soybean
for non-U.S. investors. Moreover, copper slipped as traders locked in oil hit 9-week low and observed a bearish trend. Lower purchases by the
profits ahead of the outcome of a European monetary policy meeting. Also, world’s biggest importer of soybean oils resulted in fall in the price of the
the data from China pointed to slowing demand. Data showed slower than oil. Lack of follow-through selling and light short-covering in Brazil helped
expected growth in investment, factory output and retail sales. sugar prices fall although a stronger dollar was capping gains. However, the
wheat price observed a bullish trend. Bargain-buying and expectations of
lower production in Canada caused a price hike.

Copper Open Close % Change Open Close % Change
684.20 649.90 -5.01% 192.10 205.40 6.92%
283.80 282.20 -0.56%
Energy Cocoa 14.03 14.00 -0.21%
The price for energy commodities in the month of September, 2017 saw Coffee 157.40 150.82 -4.18%
an overall bullish trend as three out of four commodities moved towards Corn 76.72 72.44 -5.58%
north whereas natural gas price moved towards south. Trouble between Cotton 34.71 35.60 2.56%
Turkey and the Kurds led oil prices to rise to their highest level in more Soybean Oil 31.40 31.12 -0.89%
than two years. Kurds held a referendum in their area in Iraq calling for Soybean 15.91 16.49 3.65%
setting up an independent Kurdish homeland for the ethnic group, who Sugar
spill over the borders of neighboring Turkey, Iran and Syria. Moreover, Wheat
oil prices rose after OPEC forecast higher demand in 2018 and Russia and
Venezuela confirmed their commitment to a production-cutting deal to The figures above are the percentage change in the prices of corresponding commodity over the
corresponding month. % change is calculated as ((Close-Open)/Open*100)

103 | MEX NEPAL YEAR BOOK 2017