On the whole it was an OK quarter for most commodities – though not as good though as the September and December quarters of 2016.
Oil fell, gold rose, iron ore, lead and silver all ended higher. Natural gas and coal fell, while copper went nowhere.
The Bloomberg Commodity Index was down around 2.5% year to date by the end of March after the 11% rise in 2016 (and losses in the previous five eyears).
Iron ore prices weakened again on Friday (March 31) as supply pressure continues to grow and the Chinese steel market saw more thin demand.
The Metal Bulletin’s 62% Fe Iron Ore Index ended at $US80.39 a tonne, down by $US1.39. That compares to the end of 2016 price of $US78.87 a tonne.
The month-to-date average for March was $US87.43 a tonne.
Comex gold futures ened 8% higher by the final settlement early Saturday in New York. That was almost as much as 2016’s 8.6% jump.
Comex silver was up nearly 14% for the quarter, after last year’s climb of nearly 16%.
Among the base metals, lead starred with a rise of around 16% for the quarter.
Comex copper futures are up 6% so far this year after closing at $US2.65 a pound in new York on Friday night. For March they lost 5 cents a pound.
Palladium was another big riser up nearly 17% for the year to the final settlement in New York on Friday.
US lumber futures (an obscure one in Australia) are up nearly 20% for the year. Oil futures rose on Friday with West Texas Intermediate crude ending at its highest level in more than three weeks, but prices fell for the quarter.
May West Texas Intermediate crude rose 25 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $US50.60 a barrel for the session. For the quarter, prices lost 5.8%.
In London, May Brent crude futures lost 27 cents, or 0.5%, to end at $US52.69 a barrel, ahead of the contract’s expiration at the session’s end.
Compared with the settlement of $US56.63 for the front-month contract at the end of last year, prices were down 7% for the quarter. Remember crude prices rose by around 50% last year. US natural-gas futures fell 14% in the first three months of the year, thanks to the second mildest winter on record (and the mildest in many parts of the country).
Global coal prices are down around 9% so far this year, according to S&P Global Platts.
