1 .Bullion fell from 17 month high on weaker-than-expected sanctions on Russia

: 24 Feb 2022

Bullion fell from 17 month high after traders digested weaker-than-expected sanctions on Russia. President Joe Biden imposed penalties on #Russia which includes action against five major Russian banks to impair access to foreign currency, but stops short of barring the nation from the Swift international payments. Russian crude supplies were also spared.

Source: Bloomberg

2 .US Federal Reserve officials signaled to remain on track to raise interest rates next month

24 Feb 2022

The US economy is healthy enough that interest rates should go from their current zero level to one percent by summer, and the first hike could be twice as big as normal, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Thursday. However, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatening to drive up global commodity prices and disrupt the US recovery at a time of high inflation, Waller said the Fed may have to change its plans to end the easy money policies it put in place to support the economy as Covid-19 spread. US Federal Reserve officials signaled they remain on track to raise interest rates next month -- stressing the need to confront the hottest U.S. inflation in 40 years.

Source: Bloomberg

3 .Aluminium surges to record high on fears over Russian supplies

: 24 Feb 2022

Aluminium prices rallied to a record high on Thursday after Moscow launched an attack on Ukraine, sparking fears of sanctions that could cut supplies from major producer Russia and disrupt energy supplies needed to produce the metal. Russia is a major producer of gas used to make electricity, a major component of aluminium production. Shortages of aluminium can be seen in the duty-paid physical premiums that consumers pay above the LME price, which are at record highs in Europe at $464 a tonne and at $795 a tonne in the United States . Inventories of aluminium in LME-registered warehouses are also running low at 824,150 tonnes, compared with about 1.3 million tonnes a year ago. Russia produces about 6% of the world's aluminium and accounts for about 7% of global nickel mine supplies.

Source: Reuters

4 .OPEC+ may stick to current output agreement

: 20 Feb 2022

OPEC+ should stick to its current agreement to add 400,000 barrels of oil per day each month to output, ministers of Arab oil-producing countries said on Sunday as they gathered in Saudi Arabia, rejecting calls to pump more to ease pressure on prices. The Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told an industry conference in Riyadh the pandemic and the recovery underway "have taught us the value of caution".

Source: Reuters

5 .Chile’s new constitution may let indigenous groups veto projects

23 Feb 2022

A proposed article in Chile’s new constitution, currently being written by a coalition elected by popular vote, has some analysts and investors on guard as it would require the state to get consent from indigenous groups to approve any projects that may affect their rights. Any major changes affecting the sector could dramatically impact the supply of minerals that are critical for the world’s industrialization and energy transition.

Source: Mining.com

6 .Copper market registers deficit of 79,000 tons in November 2021, says ICSG

21 Feb 2022

The world market for refined copper posted a deficit of 79,000 tonnes in November, compared with a shortfall of 34,000 tonnes the previous month, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) reported in its latest monthly bulletin. Between January and November of last year, the copper market registered a shortage of 339,000 tons, compared to a deficit of 487,000 tons in the same period of the previous year, according to the ICSG. World production of refined copper in November was 2,073 million tons, while consumption was 2,152 million tons.

Source: Reuters

7 .China's property market expected to rebound this year

24 Feb 2022

Shaken by a liquidity crunch among developers, China's property market is expected to stay soft in the first half of 2022 before rebounding later in the year as policies aimed at encouraging buyers helps sentiment recover, a Reuters poll showed. Having been a pillar of strength for the world's second largest economy, the heavily indebted property sector faltered last year as Beijing mounted a deleveraging campaign that caught out several major developers, disrupting project deliveries and chilling buyer sentiment.

Source: Reuters

8. Global central banks were on the same page. Ukraine may reshape that

25 Feb 2022

The well-scripted turn by global central banks towards tighter, post-pandemic monetary policy has been thrown into doubt by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a geopolitical upheaval likely to be felt differently across the world's major economic centers. Risks policymakers face globally include a near immediate spike in the price of oil to above $100 dollars a barrel, and longer-term imponderables of what a European land war could do to confidence, investment, trade and the financial system. Central banks had been positioned for a head-on fight against inflation while expecting continued strong economic growth. But now, they may now see growth ebb even as prices continue to surge, a conundrum not easily resolved with standard monetary policy strategies.

Source: Reuters