A mixed to surprisingly solid quarter for many commodities – ignoring the weakness in gold and copper’s woes – with agricultural products, such as the grains, sugar and coffee the standout performers.
Much of the gains came in March as dry weather in Australia, Brazil and problems in Crimea boosted tensions and prices.
That’s why S&P Agriculture Index of eight commodities was up 7% from the start of March while the broader.
The S&P GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials including energy and metals ended the quarter up 2.7%, which was impacted by the weakness in gold and copper. Nickel though stood out among the industrial minerals.
The Aussie dollar rose 3.9% for the quarter, the Kiwi dollar was also higher, meaning the US dollar was generally weaker, which helped some commodity prices. But it wasn’t a big influence.
Iron ore fell by around 10%, but rose sharply in the closing weeks of March to end the month at $US116 a tonne.
Copper fell, extending a quarterly loss on concern that an economic slowdown in China.
Three month metal in London fell 9.8%.
In New York, Comex copper prices for May delivery slipped nearly 2 cents, or 0.5%, to $US3.026 a pound. Prices lost 5.1% in March and were down almost 11% for the quarter.
LME Nickel in London was the big surprise, enjoying its biggest quarterly advance since 2010 after Indonesia, the biggest miner of the material used in stainless steel, started an export ban on unprocessed ores on January 12.
The metal is up 14% since the start of the year, making it the best performed of the six metals traded on the lME.
Gold rose 8% in the March quarter, Silver, 2.2%. But in March gold lost 2.2% last month, silver shed a nasty 6.3%.
Monday’s fall was the fourth down session in a row on Comex. Gold settled at $US1,283.80 an ounce in New York.
New York oil futures rose more than 3% in the quarter.
May crude fell 9 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $US101.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil prices fell about 1% for the month, but ended up 3.2% for the quarter and year to date.
US corn futures ended March 19% higher, and wheat futures were up more than 27%.
Droughts and dry weather in Australia, Brazil and the tensions in Crimea were blamed for the price surge which took traders by surprise as many were forecasting a fall in prices in 2014.
US coffee futures surged 62% in the quarter because of drought in Brazil and problem in Vietnam, another key global producer.
Sugar futures in New York ended the quarter up more than 8% thanks to drought in Brazil, problems in Thailand and dry weather in Australia.
