Commodities were up again this month, with our first reference index the Bloomberg Industrial Metals subindex [BCOMINTR Index] posting +4.23% over the month and our second reference index the Bloomberg Commodity Index [BCOMTR Index] printing at +3.93% in March. All complex but the grains (and especially wheat) were up over the month, with the best performing sector being the precious metals complex, as gold and silver both performed strongly as investors sought safe-haven assets in the face of a global trade war. Energy and industrial metals were also well in positive territory, with copper performing exceptionally well as investors rushed to get exposure to the metal ahead of announced tariffs coming into force in early April.
INDUSTRIAL METALS
The industrial sector was up in March. A weakening USD provided support for all base metals. The overall impact from tariffs and retaliations was uneven across metals and the decision from the German government to invest in defense and infrastructure was supportive.
Copper was among the best performers of the month, largely attributed to anticipation of tariffs prompting suppliers and manufacturers alike to frontload shipments to the US.
Aluminium was the only industrial metal in negative territory, with Europe’s demand growth showing signs of weakening linked to uncertainty in tariffs.
PRECIOUS METALS
The complex saw the most gains in March, with Silver, Gold and Platinum all well in positive territory.
Gold found firm footing on the weaker USD and increased safe-haven demand, as geopolitical concerns rose as hopes of resolve for the war in Ukraine melted, notably after the clash in the white house between Zelenski and Trump/Vance. Shortly after, gold rose again with the escalation of the US trade war with Mexico, China and Canada and overall uncertainty over trade war and tariffs to come. Concerns over inflation linked to tariffs were supportive to the yellow metal.
EX-BENCHMARK METALS
Except for both HRC Steel and Steel Scrap posting negative figures over the period, all the other commodities in the complex had a very good month.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the world’s largest producer of cobalt, has suspended the mineral’s export for four-month, effective the 22nd of February, which has been extremely supportive for Cobalt prices, which have posted a truly stellar performance in March.
Tin has also had a very good performance for the period.
BIOBASED
The biobased complex was a mixed bag over the period with on one hand Ethanol posting positive performance and Lumber in slight negative territory in March.
