CommodityHQ.com provides weekly information about any material impact of a major economic, corporate and/or geopolitical event on the global commodities market. The report also analyzes the weekly change in prices of the major commodity futures and commodity-focused ETFs as a result of market changing events and trends. This report covers events and analysis for the week ranging Feb. 13 to Feb. 20.
- Crude oil prices rebounded this week as OPEC-led production cuts helped lift investor expectations while natural gas once again fell on mild weather.
- Coal received a small boost as China announced that it will no longer import coal from North Korea.
- U.S. coffee gained this week as drought in Brazil and a lack of selling activity coinciding with the Lunar New Year helped lift prices.
Be sure to check our previous week’s report, so that you are aware of the changing trends in the commodity space.
Weekly Market Wrap-up
Energy – Oil finally made a comeback this week while natural gas fell further as mild weather reduced demand.
- Oil – Crude oil prices climbed slightly this week to $54.18 as of Monday as extended OPEC production cuts buoyed investors spirits. However, increased U.S. oil production acted against oil prices, capping them from rising further.
- Natural Gas – A continued lack of cold weather caused natural gas prices for March delivery to hit a 3-month low at $2.745 per Million British Thermal Units
- Coal – China announced a ban on North Korean coal, providing a shimmer of hope for the coal industry to replace the 22.5 million tons China was importing from North Korea.
Metals – Precious metals logged mild gains this week while copper surged on mine strikes and labor disputes in Indonesia.
- Precious Metals – A strong U.S. dollar curbed gold and silver prices with both precious metals ticking up only slightly with gold up to $1,234.90 a troy ounce and silver up to $17.95.
- Other – Labor issues and mine strikes in Indonesia helped boost copper prices again this week to $2.27 a pound.
Grains – An Australian winter harvest forecast along with a drop in the value of the AUD laid the groundwork for higher wheat prices going forward.
- Corn and Soybeans – News that Mexico may try to diversify its corn imports away from the U.S. made investors worried that Trump’s trade policies could backfire for the commodity.
Softs – Drought in Brazil along with a lack of selling activity helped boost U.S. coffee prices while sugar jumped to $20.84 cents per pound on Indian demand.
If you want to know what commodity is right for you, check out our Commodity Investing Database.
Weekly Movement Across Commodity Futures
For this week, we analyzed all commodities by weekly performance and listed the top three performers by weekly percentage gain. All commodities were taken into account and analyzed from a performance perspective only to find the top three.
| Commodity | Weekly Gain (%) | Contract Expiration | Contract Price (as of Feb. 20) | 52-Week Price Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Coffee | 3.81% | 05/17/17 | $149.12 | $111.35 - $176.00 |
| Crude Oil | 1.47% | 04/17/17 | $54.18 | $30.56 - $55.24 |
| London Sugar | 1.00% | 03/17/17 | $554.30 | $376.50 - $619.00 |
U.S. coffee was the best-performing commodity for the week as drought in Brazil and a lack of selling activity helped lift prices while crude oil gained on news that OPEC cuts are having a positive effect. Sugar meanwhile enjoyed gains from increased Indian demand.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETN’s, which behave differently than ETF’s, as well as leveraged ETF’s which may not be suitable for some investors. Considering the limited data for the year, all ETF’s were taken into consideration regardless of YTD gains.
You can use ETFdb.com’s Screener to see a complete list of commodity ETFs.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week:
Copper topped this week’s list of best performing commodity ETFs thanks to an Indonesian mine strike while palladium made a comeback after some profit taking last week. Wheat rounded out this week’s list on news of higher global demand and a reduction in supply.
Get a complete list of Copper ETFs and Agriculture ETFs on ETFdb.com to know how they performed over the week.
| ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ Million) | NAV (as of Feb. 20) | Return (Weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TAGS | The Teucrium Agricultural Fund | Broad Agriculture | $1.32 | $27.45 | 1.10% | 6.89% | 0.49% |
| DBS | PowerShares DB Silver Fund | Silver | $24.94 | $28.04 | 0.43% | 12.79% | 0.79% |
| GEUR | Gartman Gold/Euro ETF | Gold/Euro | $17.45 | $12.40 | 0.32% | 6.90% | 0.77% |
The best commodity-based ETF performers for the week were somewhat diversified with broad agriculture being the clear winner as coffee and sugar prices gained. Precious metals ticked slightly higher as well despite the strength in the U.S. dollar.
Check out a list of agriculture ETFs and precious metal ETFs on ETFdb.com to see how they performed this week.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week:
| ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ Million) | NAV (as of Feb. 20) | Return (Weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNG | United States Natural Gas Fund | Natural gas | $532.93 | $7.16 | -5.79% | -23.34% | 0.60% |
| UNL | United States 12-Month Natural Gas Fund | Natural gas | $16.44 | $10.22 | -5.11% | -12.57% | 0.75% |
| UGA | United States Gasoline Fund | Gasoline | $70.58 | $28.15 | -4.06% | -10.12% | 0.60% |
Mild weather continues to be the bane of natural gas with the worst commodity-based ETF performers for the week all being natural gas or gasoline-related.
You can also browse through a list of natural gas ETFs on ETFdb.com to know about other available ETFs within this space.
We provide this report on a weekly basis. Be sure to check our News section to remain updated on the latest happenings in the commodity space.
