Economic Outlook Commodities

Global commodity prices fall in December

Global commodity prices fell for the second consecutive month in December. Global prices declined 1.6% in month-on-month terms, although less severely than November’s 2.9% drop.

December’s fall masked uneven developments across commodity sectors. Energy prices continued to tank due to markedly lower oil prices, while base metal prices also declined on lower prices for key commodities such as aluminium, copper and nickel. In contrast, precious metal prices rose, as did agricultural prices—largely due to higher prices for corn, soybeans and wheat.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists surveyed this month expect global commodity prices to increase 6.5% in Q4 2019 from the same period in 2018 (previous edition: +5.6% year-on-year), thanks to higher prices for all commodity groups. FocusEconomics panelists expect commodity prices to rise 3.2% in annual terms from Q4 2019 to Q4 2020.