Energy And Metals Top The Least Of Rising Commodity Prices

The high demand for commodities has led to the prices increasing to the pre-pandemic levels led by energy and metal prices which are up 58.2 and 57.7 percent respectively.

The prices of precious metals have registered muted growth as investors participate in other attractive asset classes like long-term bonds.

The price of precious metals grew by 16.1 percent in the first half of 2021, compared a a drop of 23.1 percent in the first half of 2020. The Agriculture sector grew by 25.1 percent in the first half of 2021, compared to 0.6 percent in the first half of 2020.

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The price of metals and minerals increased by 57.7 percent in the first half of 2021 after being in the red by 10.3 percent in the first half of 2021. Non-energy products rose by 34.8 percent in 2021 compared to being in the red at 3.4 percent in the first half of 2020.

Demand in energy has led the prices to increase by 58.2 percent in the first half of 2021 compared to a negative of 36.6 percent in the first half of 2020. Fertilizers rose by 40.3 percent in the first half of 2021 compared to the negative 16.8 percent in 2020.

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Analysts including the World Bank project a sustained growth in the commodity prices across the world especially in metals and energy as economies strive to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic heat that is still a threat around the world.

The rollout of vaccines around the world are also set to help economies recover as investors gain confidence. However, in most African countries, the vaccines have not been fully rolled out and with new mutations, danger still lies ahead.

The World Bank has said that the global economy is set to expand 5.6 percent in 2021—its strongest post-recession pace in 80 years. This recovery is uneven and largely reflects sharp rebounds in some major economies—most notably the United States, owing to substantial fiscal support—amid highly unequal vaccine access.