Analysis: Commodities

Malaysia cancels its largest palm oil conference due to coronavirus

Malaysia has cancelled its biggest palm oil conference for the first time in 31 years after initially postponing it to June due to uncertainties surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. The...

Police arrest eight after violent protests at Indonesia's new nickel hub

Police in Indonesia's North Maluku province have arrested 8 people linked to a workers' demonstration that turned violent at a nickel project run by France's Eramet and China's Tsingshan Holding...

Gold demand rises as investor buying spree offsets jewellery plunge - GFMS

Global gold demand rose in the first quarter as a surge in investment as the coronavirus outbreak convulsed global markets offset sharp falls in appetite from jewellers, industry and central banks, an...

China copper stocks drop most in over 2-1/2 years in April

By Mai Nguyen and Min Zhang Copper inventories in warehouses tracked by the Shanghai Futures Exchange saw their biggest monthly decline since end-September 2017, as demand in China...

Gold hoarding investors avert coronavirus demand collapse - WGC

By Peter Hobson Massive stockpiling of gold by investors spooked by the coronavirus outbreak offset a collapse in jewellery production to keep global demand for the metal stable in the...

Malaysia's palm oil exports plunge 42% in first month of virus curbs

Palm oil exports from Malaysia, the world's second largest palm producer, plunged 41.7% during the first month of a partial lockdown to contain the coronavirus, its plantation industries and...

Exclusive: Venezuela asks Bank of England to sell its gold to U.N. for coronavirus relief - sources

By Corina Pons and Mayela Armas Venezuela is asking the Bank of England to sell part of the South American nation's gold reserves held in its coffers and send the proceeds to the United...

London Brent Oil : Why all eyes will be on the expiry of Brent oil futures this week

By Julia Payne The expiry of the June contract for Brent oil futures in Europe on Thursday will possibly be the most watched event in oil markets for some time after the U.S. benchmark...

Zijin says Papua New Guinea ending gold mine lease may hurt bilateral ties

By Tom Westbrook and Tom Daly China's Zijin Mining has warned Papua New Guinea that its failure to renew the lease of a gold mine it jointly owns with Barrick Gold Corp there could...

Starbucks : Luckin Coffee delays annual filing amid accounting probes

Luckin Coffee Inc said on Wednesday it would not file its annual financial report on time as it was dealing with investigations into hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fabricated sales. ...

Indonesia rejects miners' proposal to end nickel ore export ban

Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment has rejected a proposal by nickel miners to allow the export of nickel ore again, the ministry's spokesman, Jodi Mahardi, told...

S.Africa union tells mineworkers to resist Harmony Gold mine restart

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa has told members not to go back to work at Harmony Gold's Target mine on Friday, the union said as mines across the country prepare to restart as...

Stocks rise despite mixed earnings while investors weigh easing of lockdowns

Stock markets across the globe eked out gains on Tuesday, riding out sharp swings on Wall Street as mixed corporate earnings results and dramatic moves in oil prices delivered yet another dose of...

Brent rises on easing lockdowns, U.S. crude falls amid storage shortage

Oil prices fell on Tuesday with U.S. crude leading the decline, falling about 3% as domestic stockpiles were expected to have risen closer to record highs amid tightening storage despite plans to cut...

Rice : Vietnam PM says to fully resume rice exports from May

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Tuesday agreed to fully resume the country's rice exports from May, the government said.

EU milk producers suffer export, consumption slump due to coronavirus

EU plans to help the dairy sector weather the coronavirus crisis by storing surplus milk have come under fire from milk producers as prolonging rather than solving the problem.

Gold : Shanghai gold boss wants super-sovereign currency for post-crisis times

The president of the Shanghai Gold Exchange called for a new super-sovereign currency to offset the global dominance of the U.S. dollar, which he predicted would decline long term, while gold prices...

Can gold love a coronavirus crisis?

Gold loves a crisis, the old adage goes. And with prices up 13% this year to their highest since 2012 and many predicting further gains as investors search for safe places to put their money, it looks...

Vietnam trade ministry proposes fully resuming rice exports from May

Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade has asked the prime minister to remove a quota on rice exports to fully resume the country's shipments of the grain from May, the ministry said on Tuesday.