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 weeks ranging July 5th to July 12th.
- Natural gas prices jumped higher this week on the back of a heat wave with further bullish conditions expected next week.
- Silver prices dropped precipitously earlier this week during a flash crash that only added to the precious metal’s poor performance this month.
- Wheat prices continued to surprise traders as U.S. drought fears helped to keep prices high this week.
- Be sure to check our previous week’s edition to keep track of the trends in the commodity market.
Weekly Market Wrap-up
Energy – Oil traded mostly lower this week before news of lower inventories helped to lift prices while natural gas gained on warmer than expected weather conditions.
- Oil – After a down week, oil ended with good news that U.S. inventories dropped, helping crude prices recover to $46.05 for the week.
- Natural Gas – An ongoing heat wave lifted natural gas prices for August delivery to $2.989 per million British thermal units with more bullish forecasts for next week.
- Coal – Coal has rebounded this year with a recent report showing that coal will briefly pass natural gas for primary power generation.
Metals – Silver prices experienced a flash crash earlier this week, sending prices as low as $14.86 per ounce before recovering to $15.88.
- Precious Metals – Gold prices for August delivery ticked slightly higher to $1,219.23 per ounce on better than expected U.S. economic data.
- Other – Steel remained a hot commodity as the European Union raised its demand for 2017 while the U.S.’s plan to levy tariffs could cause complications.
Grains – Wheat prices continued to show strength this week on further crop concerns and U.S. drought worries.
- Corn and Soybeans – Weather concerns impacted corn this week as well with analysts predicting prices as high as $5.20 per bushel before the end of the year.
Softs – Cocoa prices fell this week as oversupply concerns offset demand data.
If you are wondering which commodity might be 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 July 12th) | 52-week price change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Gas | 6.30% | 08/17/17 | $3.00 | $2.522 - $3.994 |
| U.S. Corn | 3.57% | 09/17/17 | $396.50 | $301 - $400.75 |
| Copper | 1.51% | 09/17/17 | $2.69 | $2.061 - $2.822 |
Natural gas was the week’s best performing commodity thanks to an unexpected heat wave that helped lift prices. U.S. corn gained on weather concerns as well while copper prices rose as positive U.S. economic data was released earlier in the week.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETN’s, which behave differently than ETF’s, as well as leveraged ETF’s which may not be suitable for some investors. Some ETF’s that have less than one year on the market have been excluded due to lack of long term data.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week
| ETF ticker | ETF name | Commodity category | Assets ($ million) | NAV (as of July 12) | Return (weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOYB | The Teucrium Soybean Fund | Soybeans | $12.19 | $19.55 | 5.45% | 2.36% | 1.00% |
| CORN | The Teucrium Corn Fund | Corn | $68.52 | $19.99 | 3.41% | 6.84% | 1.00% |
| TAGS | The Teucrium Agricultural Fund | Broad Agriculture | $1.29 | $25.50 | 2.82% | -0.70% | 1.00% |
This week’s best performing commodity-based ETFs were all agricultural with soybeans and corn leading the way. Overall, poor crop conditions and warmer than expected weather contributed to the bullishness in the agricultural space this week.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week
| ETF ticker | ETF name | Commodity category | Assets ($ million) | NAV (as of July 12) | Return (weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USO | United States Oil Fund | Oil | $3,007.16 | $9.27 | -3.64% | -20.90% | 0.77% |
| BNO | United States Brent Oil Fund | Brent Oil | $113.10 | $12.66 | -3.58% | -19.26% | 0.90% |
| DBO | PowerShares DB Oil Fund | Oil | $393.27 | $7.86 | -3.44% | -18.80% | 0.75% |
This week’s worst performing commodity-based ETFs were all oil-related as oil prices suffered. Until the week’s close, oil inventories were the primary source of weakness that sent prices lower.
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.
