Analysis: Commodities

BRENT CRUDE OIL SPOT: Oil: The Holy Grail of rebalancing at your fingertips?

What a twist. Two months after crossing the absolute zero line, US crude oil is trading at $41, up more than 90% since May 1st. The trajectory is similar for the European benchmark, which is trading...

Banro agrees sale of troubled Namoya gold mine in Congo

By Helen Reid Canadian miner Banro Corporation has agreed to sell its Namoya Mining gold mine in Democratic Republic of Congo to Shomka Resources Ltd, in which China's Baiyin...

Coronavirus slowdown squeezes Ivory Coast cotton sector

Ivory Coast's cotton industry will struggle to cover its costs after exporting just 20% of last season's 210,902 tonnes of fibre because of COVID-19 disruptions in top buying destinations in Asia, the...

Venezuela's rival leaders begin tug-of-war over London gold

By Marc Jones Venezuela's rival leaders, President Nicolás Maduro and his western-backed opponent Juan Guaido, began a legal tug-of-war on Monday over $1 billion of the country's gold...

Ivory Coast 2019/20 cocoa port arrivals seen at 1.936 mln T by June 21 - exporters

Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1.936 million tonnes between Oct. 1 and June 21, exporters estimated on Monday, down 6.9% from 2.080 mln tonnes over the same period last...

Global palm oil usage to fall for first time due to coronavirus - analyst Mielke

By Mei Mei Chu Global consumption of palm oil will fall this season for the first time on record as a coronavirus-led recession slashes demand for edible oils and fats, leading industry...

Singaporean wanted by FBI charged over North Korea sugar deals

A Singaporean commodity broker wanted by the FBI was charged in the city-state on Friday for falsifying company documents to conceal transactions with North Korea from banks. Tan Wee...

Barrick Gold alerts authorities after fake news release claims it sold Lumwana mine

Barrick Gold on Thursday said there is absolutely no truth in a news release circulated on social media in Zambia claiming the gold miner sold its Lumwana copper mine. The fake press...

Takeaway coffee and fitness classes return to UK inflation data as lockdown eases

By David Milliken Haircuts, holidays and a pint at the pub remain off limits but prices for takeaway coffees, muffins and fitness classes have returned to Britain's inflation data,...

Zimbabwe gold miner RioZim halts production over payment delays

Zimbabwe's biggest gold miner RioZim Ltd said on Tuesday it had stopped production due to delays in payments for deliveries to the country's sole buyer of bullion, which left the company unable to...

Indonesia pushes back target for palm oil fuel refinery to 2026

Indonesia, the world's largest producer of palm oil, is pushing back by three years its target to produce fuel made entirely from palm oil, a government document showed on Tuesday. The...

Kinross Gold resolves Mauritania disputes and secures expansion

Canadian mining firm Kinross Gold on Monday said it reached an agreement with Mauritania's government under which the company will pay a total of $25 million to resolve disputes over fuel use, tax...

Congo's gold being smuggled out by the tonne, UN report finds

Gold production in Democratic Republic of Congo continues to be systematically underreported while tonnes of the precious metal is smuggled into global supply chains through its eastern neighbours, a...

U.S. report on child labour on West Africa cocoa farms faces review following criticism

A forthcoming U.S. report that shows child labour has risen in the West African cocoa sector is to be reviewed independently after Ivory Coast and Ghana objected to the methodology, the U.S. Labor...

Industry body expects third-quarter rise in Malaysian palm oil exports to biggest buyers

By Mei Mei Chu Malaysia will export more palm oil to India, China and the European Union, the biggest buyers, in the third quarter after an easing of coronavirus curbs and an export duty...

Indonesia's May refined tin exports fall 35% y/y - trade ministry

Indonesia's refined tin exports in May stood at 4,380.23 tonnes, Trade Ministry data showed on Wednesday, down 35% from the same month a year earlier. On monthly basis, however,...

Platinum : processing continues at Amplats plant despite repairs

Anglo American Platinum will still receive concentrate and deliver metal to customers despite the closure of a unit of its Anglo Converter Plant last week when a water leak was detected, the company...

Ivory Coast to reduce fees paid by domestic cocoa exporters

By Ange Aboa Ivory Coast's Coffee and Cocoa Council is introducing reforms aimed at boosting domestic exporters, including by reducing fees they pay when acquiring beans, CCC and...

Prepping portfolios for next market storm? Not just gold and govvies

By Saikat Chatterjee and Dhara Ranasinghe G7 government bonds? Check. Gold? Check. But that may not be enough as the coronavirus crisis accelerates a hunt for a wider pool of assets to...