(March 23 13:10 ET) – Scotiabank’s Commodity Price Index climbed by 3.3% in February to a level 20.2% above a year earlier. “The advance was led by soaring prices for oil and liquid petroleum gas,” says Patricia Mohr, Vice-President and commodities specialist, Scotia Economics. “The Oil & Gas Index is now up 79% year-over-year.”
“To engineer a soft landing in oil prices, OPEC will likely adopt a cautious strategy in increasing production in the second quarter of the year,” says Mohr. “One approach would involve a 1.5-2 million barrels per day increase in output from the 22.97 mb/d baseline agreed to last April, which would have been achieved had OPEC been 100% compliant with pledged production cuts.”
According to Scotiabank’s Commodity Price Index, the Forest Products Index increased in February with gains in fine paper, linerboard, oriented strandboard and lumber.
Nickel led the Metal & Mineral Index higher in February. LME nickel prices have climbed from US$3.77 per pound in January to US$4.68 in mid-March. Nickel producers may have difficulty meeting global demand this year, given robust stainless steel markets.
In the agricultural sector, wheat prices were flat in February at US$151
per tonne, but edged up from US$148 in the fourth quarter of last year.
-IE Staff