Commodity markets have bounced further since last week as some of the oversold momentum has continued to unwind. Moreover, equity markets bouncing and the US dollar is weakening against the euro, both of which will be positive commodities on a short-term basis. While my colleagues at Business Monitor see potential for a short-term bounce, and… [Read more]
I am pencilling in a correction in Crude Palm Oil (CPO) prices over the coming months, before a resumption of the long-term uptrend. The spectacular rally in CPO prices since mid-2010 has been underpinned by several dynamics. First and foremost, the rally in grain prices since the middle of last year has driven gains. Given… [Read more]
Inflationary pressures are of rising concern across both emerging (EM) and developed (DM) markets and are set to remain a key theme in 2011. While a robust economic recovery (in EM) and loose monetary policy (across the board) have been the primary drivers of this phenomenon, rising commodity prices have also played an important role… [Read more]
Heavy flooding in Queensland has affected an area the size of France and Germany combined, disrupting agricultural and mining activities. Speaking from BMI’s Asia headquarters in Singapore, Head of Asia Research Rahul Ghosh, Head of Asia Country Risk & Financial Markets Stuart Allsopp, and Australia Analyst Kelvin Tan talk about the economic and financial market… [Read more]
BMI’s Africa team is highly optimistic about the Zambian economy, and we believe that GDP growth is likely to exceed 7% in 2011. In a recently published article on Business Monitor Online, we specify three key drivers for growth in the near future: · A good and improving business environment. Zambia is a top-ten reformer… [Read more]
The base metals complex has continued to rally in recent weeks in line with the trend in broad risk appetite. However, base metals have also been supported by factors such as a weaker US dollar, as well as a stronger Yuan, which has appreciated by almost 2% since mid-June . This suggests that there are… [Read more]
At first glance, the link between rising wheat prices and the state of telecoms infrastructure is hard to see, to the casual observer. However, Mozambique provides an opportunity to look at these two – usually unrelated – industries. Protests against a hike in bread prices in Mozambique were organised via SMS messaging on mobile phones…. [Read more]
