Oil increased by 2%
Oil prices increased by more than 2% in the weekend session, but overall for the whole week decreased by about 7% due to strong sell-off activities as the new wave of Covid-19 infection increased across Europe, causing doubts about the development. recovery of fuel demand in the coming time.
Ending the session, Brent oil rose 1.25 USD / barrel (2%) to 64.53 USD / barrel; West Texas American oil (WTI) rose $ 1.42 (2.4%) to $ 61.42 / barrel.
However, for the whole week, oil prices still lost about 7% due to strong sell-off sessions before.
The previous session (Thursday, March 18), crude oil prices fell 7% as Europe’s major economies simultaneously re-applied blockade measures, amid the vaccination process. Covid-19 in the region was delayed due to problems related to vaccine delivery.
Goldman Sachs said the turbulence of the oil market – related to European Union demand and Iranian supply – would slow the market rebalancing process in the second quarter, though it hopes for action. OPEC + will compensate for that.
Gold rose
Gold prices rose in the last session, the 2nd consecutive week of increasing when the US Treasury bond yields and the US dollar decreased.
At the end of this session, spot gold price increased by 0.3% to $ 1,742.14 / ounce; For the whole week, the price increased by 0.9%. Similarly, gold price in April 2021 also increased by 0.5% to 1,741.70 USD / ounce.
ED&F Man Capital Markets analyst Edward Meir said: “US 10-year yields have dropped a bit and the dollar is leaving the highs as well. the rates started to stabilize “.
US 10-year bond yields fell after hitting a one-year high on March 18. USD also dropped from the highest level in 1 week.
“Relatively low expectations on economic growth and relatively low long-term interest rates lead to inflation,” said David Meger, Head of Metal Trading at High Ridge Futures.
Copper increased due to high demand and limited supply
Forecasts of increased demand and tightened supply pushed copper prices up slightly in the final session of the week, although investors were cautious due to tensions between US and Chinese diplomats, as well as a rise in prices. rapidly increasing US government bond yields.
Ending the session, the price of copper futures delivered after 3 months (reference contract) increased by 0.2% to $ 9,069 / ton; for the whole week, it was almost unchanged from the previous week.
The metal used primarily in the electrical and construction sectors has lost momentum since reaching $ 9,617 last month – the highest level since 2011. may continue, but not immediately.
Iron and coal decreased
Prices of iron ore and coke – two main materials in steel production – fell on March 19 due to business concerns about the prospect of Tangshan city – the capital of Chinese steel production – will cut steel production Castle. Tangshan accounts for nearly 14% of China’s total crude steel production.
Ending the last session of the week, the price of iron ore delivered in May on the Dalian floor fell 3.5% to 1,042 CNY (160.16 USD) / ton, for the whole week a decrease of 2.8%.
The price of coking coal on the Dalian trading floor also fell 4.4% to CNY 2,231 / ton this session, making this week’s increase to only 0.8%.
Corn and soybeans rose
The US corn and soybean prices both recovered in the last session of the week due to technical buying activities and buying to take advantage of the bargain prices after the previous plunging sessions.
The corn market received positive news when the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed it had sold an additional 800,000 tons of maize to Chinese customers on March 19, bringing the total volume of US corn exports this week to 3 , 9 million tons.
Maize futures prices in May increased 11-1 / 4 US cents to 5.57-3 / 4 USD / bushel, for the whole week up 3.5%, is the first week of increase within 3 weeks. Soybeans for the same term also increased by 24 US cents to 14.16 to 1/4 USD / bushel in the last session of the week, for the whole week also increased for the 5th week within 6 recent weeks.
The lowest line of 1.5 months
Raw sugar prices on the New York bourse fell to their lowest level since late January due to increasing concerns about risks in the financial markets and unregulated concerns of Covid-19 outbreaks.
Ending the session, the price of sugar delivered in May decreased 0.13 US cent (0.8%) to 15.76 US cents / lb; During the session, there were only 15.55 cents in the session, the lowest level since the end of January 2021. The price of white sugar delivered in the same period also decreased by 2.6 USD (0.6%) to 453.4 USD / ton.
Dealers say the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in Europe causes commodity funds to suspend trading for consideration, and they may reassess commodity prospects in the short term.
Rabobank Bank forecasts that the upcoming sugar price will continue to have many supportive factors, and the price will remain in the range of 15 – 15.5 USD / lb for the whole year 2021.
Coffee drops
The price of arabica coffee at the last session of the week decreased by 0.95 US cent (0.7%) to 1.29 USD / lb, the previous session decreased by 2.7%. Robusta coffee also decreased 0.5% to 1,379 USD / ton.
The Brazail Agricultural Extension Service, Emater-MG, said Brazil’s Arabian production of Minas Gerais in 2021 would decrease by 10 million bags to 17.9 million bags. This figure is lower than the figure given by the Brazilian Government.
Reduced rubber
Rubber prices fell during the weekend session due to concerns about a new wave of Covid-19 infection across Europe.
Ending the last session of the week, August rubber on the Osaka floor decreased by 10.2 JPY (3.8%) to 261 JPY / kg, for the whole week decreased by 5.4%; rubber on the Shanghai floor (May term) also decreased 5.8% to 14,365 CNY / ton.
Prices of some key items on the morning of March 20
