Closing the session on August 27, prices of oil, gold, rebar and sugar all increased, natural gas still highest in 32 months, aluminum highest in more than 3 years, Robusta coffee highest in 4 years, while coal price Coke, coking coal, iron ore and rubber all fell.
Oil prices rise
Oil prices rose 2% and had their biggest weekly gain in more than a year, as energy companies began shutting down production in the US Gulf of Mexico ahead of a major storm expected to hit early next week.
Closing the session on August 27, Brent crude oil increased by 1.63 USD, or 2.3% to 72.7 USD/barrel and West Texas Intermediate crude oil increased by 1.32 USD, or 2%, to 68.74 USD. /bin. This is the highest level for Brent since August 2, 2021 and WTI since August 12, 2021. For the whole week, the price of Brent oil rose more than 11% and WTI rose more than 10% – the strongest week for both oils since June 2020.
Wells off the Gulf of Mexico account for 17% of US crude oil production, while more than 45% of total US refining capacity is located along the Gulf Coast.
Rising oil prices were also supported by the dollar falling to a one-week low against a basket of major currencies, following comments by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. A weaker dollar makes oil cheaper to buy in other currencies.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia, known as OPEC+, will meet on September 1, 2021 to discuss plans to raise output by 400,000 bpd per month over the next few days. next month.
Natural gas prices still highest in 32 months
U.S. natural gas prices rose more than 4% to a new 32-month high, driven by forecasts that mid-September 2021 will remain hotter than usual and concerns that Hurricane Ida will shut down production in the Gulf of Mexico.
The price of natural gas for September 2021 on the New York Stock Exchange rose 18.6 US cents, or 4.4%, to $4,370/mmBtu – the highest since December 2018 for the second consecutive session. For the whole week, natural gas prices increased by nearly 14% – the strongest week since October 2020. In the last week, natural gas prices fell less than 1%.
The price of natural gas for the October 2021 term increased by 17 US cents to $4.39/mmBtu.
Gold price continues to increase, silver has the strongest week in 3 months
Gold prices rose more than 1% after the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell stopped signaling the US Central Bank to begin withdrawing economic support.
Spot gold on the LBMA rose 1.4% to $1,817.21 an ounce and gold for December 2021 on the New York Stock Exchange rose 0.9% to $1,819.5 an ounce.
At the same time, silver prices rose 2.2% to $24.05 an ounce and had their biggest weekly gain since May 2021.
Aluminum price highest in more than 3 years
Aluminum prices rose to a more than three-year high, on rising supply concerns from top producer China, after the country’s Xinjiang region imposed output limits on five smelters.
Aluminum prices on the London floor rose 0.8% to $2,641 a tonne, earlier in the session aluminum prices reached $2,697 a tonne – the highest since April 2018, after the US imposed sanctions on Rusal .
At the same time, aluminum prices on the Shanghai floor rose to the highest level since August 2008.
According to Reuters calculations, the monthly limits on five smelters in Xinjiang for the first seven months of 2021 account for 10 percent of the output cut. Meanwhile, Xinjiang is the largest metallurgical center in China, accounting for nearly a fifth of the supply of the world’s largest aluminum producer and consumer. This has caused China’s aluminum imports in the first seven months of 2021 to increase by 47% year-on-year.
