Commodity Blog

Commodities Week in Review: December 21 to December 24

Agriculture 

US agriculture had another strong weekly performance, despite a rising US dollar. The agricultural commodities market was looking to build on its overall momentum this year in the home stretch of 2020, buoyed by strengthening foreign demand and declining output and supplies at home and abroad. Investors are betting on a repeat performance in 2021 as global supply chains get disrupted, the greenback weakens, and demand increases.

Cocoa 

• Thursday Settlement: $6.00, or 0.23%, to $2,599 per metric ton
• Weekly Performance: +1.60%
• YTD Performance: +2.40%

Coffee 

• Thursday Settlement: $0.002, or 0.16%, to $1.2615 per pound
• Weekly Performance: -0.36%
• YTD Performance: -2.32%

Corn 

• Thursday Settlement: +$0.0325, or 0.73%, to $4.505 per pound
• Weekly Performance: +3.09%
• YTD Performance: +16.33%

Cotton 

• Thursday Settlement: +0.22 cent, or 0.29%, to 76.36 cents per pound
• Weekly Performance: -1.00%
• YTD Performance: +10.75%

Orange Juice 

• Thursday Settlement: +$0.0105, or 0.89%, to $1.19 per pound
• Weekly Performance: +3.61%
• YTD Performance: +19.36%

Rice 

• Thursday Settlement: -$0.013, or 1.05%, to $12.26 per pound
• Weekly Performance: -2.62%
• YTD Performance: +2.04%

Soybeans 

• Thursday Settlement: +$0.0475, or 0.38%, to $12.6475 per bushel
• Weekly Performance: +3.90%
• YTD Performance: +32.3%

Sugar 

• Thursday Settlement: +0.09 cent, or 0.61%, to 14.92 cents per pound
• Weekly Performance: +1.63%
• YTD Performance: +11.01%

Wheat 

• Thursday Settlement: -$0.02, or 0.32%, to $6.2775 per bushell
• Weekly Performance: +3.25%
• YTD Performance: +12.2%

Bitcoin 

It was a relatively quiet week for the peer-to-peer decentralized digital currency bitcoin, rising only about 1% during the holiday-shortened trading week. Since surging to an all-time high earlier this month, the virtual currency has momentum has slightly stalled. But analysts are still expecting another strong year ahead for the cryptocurrency.

• Thursday Settlement: -$315.00, or 1.34%, to $23,195 per coin
• Weekly Performance: +1.07%
• YTD Performance: +221.26%

Energy 

Energy prices took a hit regarding concerns over two new coronavirus strains intensifying in the United Kingdom, as well as a couple of other mutations in Brazil. The latest developments in the global health pandemic weighed on crude oil on fears that exacerbating the public health crisis would impact international demand and threaten any gains that the industry has made since the height of COVID-19 earlier this year.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude Oil 

• Thursday Settlement: +$0.18, or 0.37%, to $48.30 per barrel
• Weekly Performance: -1.93%
• YTD Performance: -21.09%

Brent Crude Oil 

• Thursday Settlement: $+0.03, or 0.06%, to $51.37 per barrel
• Weekly Performance: -1.91%
• YTD Performance: -22.20%

Natural Gas 

• Thursday Settlement: -$0.066, or 2.53%, to $2.542 per million British thermal units (btu)
• Weekly Performance: -6.1%
• YTD Performance: +16.45%

Gasoline 

• Thursday Settlement: -$0.0037, or 0.27%, to $1.3725 per gallon
• Weekly Performance: -1.71%
• YTD Performance: -19.14%

Heating Oil 

• Thursday Settlement: -$0.0058, or 0.39%, to $1.4921 per gallon
• Weekly Performance: -1.28%
• YTD Performance: -26.35%

Metals 

Precious metals endured an up-and-down trading week. Gold and silver had initially surged on news that Congress had finally reached a deal on a $908 billion COVID-19 relief and stimulus package. However, gold and silver erased those gains when investors were spooked by the new coronavirus strains, sending them into the greenback. Industrial metals also faced the same downward pressure in the final sessions of 2020.

Gold 

• Thursday Settlement: +$4.50, or 0.24%, to $1,882.60 per ounce
• Weekly Performance: -0.22%
• YTD Performance: +23.86%

Silver 

• Thursday Settlement: +$0.024, or 0.09%, to $25.945 per ounce
• Weekly Performance: -0.21%
• YTD Performance: +44.94%

Copper 

• Thursday Settlement: +$0.0155, or 0.44%, to $3.5715 per pound
• Weekly Performance: -1.95%
• YTD Performance: +27.62%

Palladium 

• Thursday Settlement: +$6.40, or 0.27%, to $2,345.50 per ounce
• Weekly Performance: -0.78%
• YTD Performance: +22.65%

Platinum 

• Thursday Settlement: +$10.10, or 0.99%, to $1,027.20 per ounce
• Weekly Performance: -1.61%
• YTD Performance: +5.7%

Steel 

• Thursday Settlement: -$4.00, or 0.41%, to $967.00 per ton
• Weekly Performance: +10.51%
• YTD Performance: +64.18%