Price movements and fundamentals across major commodities.
Analysis and reporting on commodities such as oil, natural gas, gold, industrial metals, and agricultural products. Focuses on supply-demand dynamics, geopolitical risks, inventory trends, and macro drivers affecting commodity markets.
2,161 total articles
Key leaders and senior Revolutionary Guards commanders in Iran were killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes after the conflict that began on February 28. Despite those losses, the Islamic Republic’s institutional design - a layered, resilient system built since the 1979 revolution - has retained the capacity to plan and execute strategy. The new supreme lea…
Oil prices eased in early trade after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 10-day pause in planned strikes on Iranian energy plants and signaled progress in talks. Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures trimmed gains from the prior session, with broader market indicators pointing to reduced near-term risk expectations despite the ongoing…
Oil futures fell in Asian trading on Friday and were headed for a weekly drop as signs of de-escalation in the Middle East reduced the risk premium that had buoyed prices. Brent for May delivery and U.S. WTI both declined, with markets responding to a U.S. announcement of a temporary pause in strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure and cautio…
Mexican navy officials say a recent oil contamination along the Gulf of Mexico shoreline resulted from a combination of natural submarine seepage and petroleum discharged by a tanker that has not yet been identified. Navy chief Raymundo Morales cited satellite imagery and a list of 13 vessels that transited the affected area; four remain in Mexican…
U.S. consideration of a ground operation to capture Kharg Island could allow rapid control of a key oil-export facility, but experts warn the move would place American personnel in significant danger and may intensify and lengthen the conflict rather than produce a quick resolution. Military strikes have already hit the island, and Washington is we…
Major brokerages have raised their 2026 oil price forecasts after this month's surge in crude prompted by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Macquarie notably revised its fiscal 2026 West Texas Intermediate (WTI) outlook to about $83 per barrel, from a previous $58 per barrel estimate, citing substantial supply disruptions tied to the Middle East conf…
Recent vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz have increased over the past several days, aligning with U.S. President Donald Trump's statement that Iran allowed 10 oil tankers to pass as part of negotiations. Financial and commodity analysts note the rise is modest compared with normal traffic but is significant for markets monitoring signs …
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine has increased long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure to sustain pressure after international restraints on Moscow eased. Washington recently issued a 30-day waiver allowing countries to buy sanctioned Russian crude and products stranded at sea, a move criticised by some European partners. Ukra…
As electricity demand strains U.S. grids, technology firms are being pressed to adopt flexibility measures that allow data centers to reduce load during peak periods. Utilities, grid operators and investors are testing ways to temporarily shift or trim server workloads, use backup generation, or relocate energy-intensive processing across sites. Th…
U.S. government ministers argued that the recent jump in fuel costs tied to the war in Iran will be transient, pointing to record domestic production and policy steps to boost energy output. At the same time, oil industry leaders and foreign officials at the annual CERAWeek gathering said the global energy system is facing its most severe disruptio…
Turkey’s central bank reduced its gold holdings by roughly 60 tons, valued at more than $8 billion, across two consecutive reporting weeks after the outbreak of the war in Iran. Weekly central bank figures show a 6-ton decline in the week of March 13 and a 52.4-ton fall in the week of March 20. Officials and unnamed sources describe a mix of outrig…
Iran's embassy in Spain posted on X that it views Spain as committed to international law and would be receptive to any request from Madrid concerning transit through the Strait of Hormuz. The message follows a statement from Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs that said "non-hostile vessels" may transit the strait if they coordinate with Iranian au…
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington has transmitted a 15-point action list to Iran to serve as the framework for negotiations aimed at ending the ongoing conflict. Speaking at a White House cabinet meeting, Witkoff reported indications that Tehran might be receptive to a deal and confirmed that Pakistan is acting as a mediator. He emph…
President Donald Trump urged Iran to accept a deal that would end recent U.S. and Israeli strikes, saying Tehran could abandon its nuclear ambitions and pursue a new direction. He warned that if Iran refuses, the United States would continue military pressure. Iranian officials have called Washington's proposal one-sided, while Tehran has denied po…
A senior Iranian official described a U.S. proposal to end the war, conveyed to Pakistan, as "one-sided and unfair" after a detailed review by senior Iranian officials and the representative of Iran's Supreme Leader. The official said the plan would require Iran to relinquish defensive capabilities in return for an imprecise promise to lift sanctio…
A swift government-ordered increase in fuel prices in Chile has produced empty and sold-out pumps, long queues and immediate political consequences for President Jose Antonio Kast. The administration activated a clause in its fuel-stabilization mechanism to align domestic prices with higher international rates tied to conflict in the Middle East. T…
Wilmer Ruperti, a prominent Venezuelan oil trader known for his role during the 2002-2003 PDVSA strike and for running Geneva-based Maroil Trading, remains detained and has had no access to his lawyers, his legal representatives said. The detention follows a request from the country's intelligence police for a meeting with Ruperti a week earlier. H…
A senior Houthi commander said the Iran-aligned Yemeni movement is militarily ready to resume strikes on strategic waterways in coordination with Tehran if directed, highlighting the risk that the Bab al-Mandab Strait could become a new front in the wider regional conflict and deepen disruptions to global seaborne trade and energy shipments.
Russia said it was encouraged by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s statement that the United States has conditioned security guarantees on Ukraine surrendering the Donbas region. Kremlin special envoy Kirill Dmitriev described Zelenskiy’s remark as validation of Moscow’s interpretation of U.S. policy, and outlined ongoing talks with Washing…
Gold has given back all of its 2026 gains since the U.S.-Iran conflict began, but Barclays views the retreat as a reasonable entry point. The bank highlights persistent central bank purchases, an energy-driven inflation spike and fiscal strains in Western economies as factors that should underpin the metal, while downgrading the likelihood of aggre…
A tightening of helium flows linked to the Middle East conflict is starting to constrain production within global technology supply chains, executives said, prompting firms to seek substitute supplies and, in some cases, slow or prioritise output. Helium, a critical input in several chipmaking processes, is concentrated in a few producing countries…
The European Parliament voted in favour of legislation to implement the EU side of its trade accord with the United States, approving the text by 417 votes to 154 with 71 abstentions. Lawmakers attached sunrise, sunset and suspension safeguards and pressed for the removal of 50% duties imposed on steel and aluminium content after the Turnberry agre…
World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told ministers at the opening of the 14th WTO ministerial in Yaounde, Cameroon that the multilateral trading order has been fundamentally altered and cannot be restored to its previous state. She identified stalled dispute settlement, weak transparency on subsidies and external shocks - …
Global markets reacted to conflicting messages from Washington and Tehran as fighting around the Strait of Hormuz continued. Oil prices recovered after a midweek drop, import price inflation surprised to the upside in February, and risk assets including stocks and gold struggled amid mounting concerns about future inflation and debt auctions.
UBS reiterated a positive outlook on silver, arguing that a supportive macro backdrop for real assets should underpin higher prices over time. The bank cautioned that recent liquidity-driven selling has pushed silver to roughly $60 per ounce and that near-term headwinds from industrial demand and elevated volatility could compress the metal's defic…
