A glut of grain crops around the world has depressed prices for wheat, corn, and oats among others. The crops have seen five years of strong yields, filling storage facilities and driving prices way down. Jacob Bunge and Jesse Newman report that grain processors are about to get hit by the big oversupply. Farmers are opting to store grain rather than sell it to grain companies at low prices. Some food companies, meanwhile, are placing fewer long-term orders for grain and ingredients since prices are expected to stay cheap. As low prices persist, the situation grows more difficult for the … [Read more...]
Is Oil Finally Turning the Corner?
After extensive efforts by OPEC to rein in world oil production, it appears the plan may finally be working to raise estimates of future oil prices. Georgi Kantchev reports that analysts are raising their estimates of the future price of oil. He writes: A poll of 14 investment banks surveyed by The Wall Street Journal at the end of October predicted that Brent crude, the international benchmark, will average $54 a barrel next year, up $1 from the September survey. The banks expect West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil gauge, to average $51 a barrel in 2018, also up a dollar from the previous … [Read more...]
The Electrification of the Auto Fleet is Bullish for this Metal
The shift toward electric vehicles (EVs) promises to have a profound impact on the commodities landscape. Here the FT reports that nickel is likely to be one of the winners from the move to EVs. Nickel is likely to take centre stage at LME Week, analysts say. The metal is already emerging as one of the favoured ways to play the EV supply chain, as some of the largest battery makers shift towards models that use more nickel to increase the amount of power they can store, thereby boosting a vehicle’s range. Analysts at consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimate that nickel demand in EV batteries … [Read more...]
Growing Demand for Equipment Boosts Caterpillar
After a slump lasting for years after the financial crisis, it appears that Caterpillar is finally getting some of its momentum back. Sales are improving as demand rises for mining and construction machines. Bob Tita and Andrew Tangel write: The world’s largest producer of bulldozers, excavators, and other earth-moving machinery experienced widespread improvement in sales during the third quarter. Caterpillar’s fortunes have improved over the past year after a yearslong slump caused by a downturn in the global commodities markets and a slowdown in construction. The company’s stock price has … [Read more...]
Can Grocers Cut Out the Milk Middlemen?
Grocers like Kroger are moving to expand their private label business. Now Kroger is leading a new trend for grocers, bottling their own milk. The move could harm Dean Foods and other milk producers who have traditionally supplied the grocers. Heather Haddin and Benjamin Parkin report: Milk is a low-margin commodity, susceptible to price swings. Americans are drinking less of it, even as demand rises for cheese, butter and other dairy products. But grocery executives say ensuring for themselves a steady supply of what remains one the most frequently purchased items in their stores is worth … [Read more...]
Buffett’s Flying J Invests in the Energy Revolution
“A sucker is born every minute, and Warren Buffett just proved it. He agreed to spend an undisclosed sum of his shareholders’ money to buy a controlling stake in Pilot Flying J, the truck-stop chain that sells food, coffee and diesel fuel to truckers”, writes Holman Jenkins, Jr. in his WSJ column. “After all, aren’t truckers about to be replaced by robots, and diesel by battery power?” Not so fast he continues, “The sucker in this scenario, we add, is anyone who believed such futuristic forecasts in the first place” Changing gears, I had a discussion about natural gas this week with a … [Read more...]
Unmanned Train Set to Move Australian Iron Ore for Rio Tinto
In the remote outback of Australia, Rio Tinto is preparing to run autonomous trains filled with iron ore. It is easy to understand the appeal of autonomous vehicle technology in such a remote place. The farther you get from places where employees want to be, the more money they'll demand to be in those places, and the costs of operation will rise higher. Running unmanned trains through the desert will boost the bottom line at Rio Tinto. Robb M. Stewart writes of the project; MELBOURNE, Australia—Driverless trains hauling iron ore across Australia’s arid Pilbara region were meant to transform … [Read more...]
America’s Crude Oil Exports Ready to Surge
Prices for WTI crude have dropped in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The Texas crude benchmark price has dropped to a $6.63 discount per barrel compared to Brent crude (See my chart of the spread's historical width below). That spread is more than enough to make crude oil shipments out of Texas profitable. The deep spread could drive a surge in American energy exports. Alison Sider and Lynn Cook report: A difference of at least $4 makes it attractive for a refiner in countries like China or South Korea to buy oil from shale producers in Texas and North Dakota, said R.T. Dukes, an oil … [Read more...]
What’s Next for Commodities? Ask D.C. and Beijing
Since early 2016, commodities prices have been making up some of their massive post-2011 losses (see chart below). Some of the increase in commodity prices is thanks to strong demand. More of the increase relies on dollar weakness and Chinese stimulus plans. At the FT, John Authers explains the current bullishness in commodities. The US stock market has outstripped the rest of the planet ever since the financial crisis. But rising raw materials prices historically help the rest of the world outperform the US. That did not happen when metals prices rallied in the wake of the crisis — but … [Read more...]
A Game-changer in Energy Efficient LNG Production
Producing LNG is an energy intensive task. Cooling anything down to -260°F takes a lot of power. ExxonMobil wants to make the process as efficient as possible. Here's how they did just that, from an article on ExxonMobil's Energy Factor website. It takes a lot of investment and energy to build and operate LNG plants. This reality has prompted ExxonMobil to work with some of the world’s best turbine manufacturers, including GE, Mitsubishi and Siemens, to develop gas turbines better suited to producing LNG with industry-leading low emissions. The results are “LNG-ready” turbines that … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- …
- 39
- Next Page »