Red hot oil prices hit record 90 dollars
Sunday, 21 October 2007
LONDON, Oct 19 (AFP): Scorching oil prices blazed a record- breaking trail beyond 90 dollars this week as traders fretted over the weak US dollar and geopolitical jitters in the crude-rich Middle East.
Prices were electrified by fears that a Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq could further tighten world energy supplies, analysts said.
Elsewhere, the platinum hit another all-time pinnacle owing to tight supplies, while gold traded at the highest point since 1980.
OIL: World oil prices gushed to record peaks on simmering tensions along the Turkey-Iraq border-prompting analysts to warn of crude striking 100 dollars per barrel some time soon.
New York's light sweet crude spiked as high as 90.07 dollars per barrel Friday and London's Brent oil leapt to an historic 84.88 dollars Thursday.
OPEC chief Abdalla Salem El-Badri expressed "concern" at the recent price spike but argued that current levels did not reflect the true state of supply and demand.
Iraq's Kurds vowed Friday to fight off any attack on the northern region as pressure mounted in Baghdad and Washington for action against Kurdish rebels to stave off a potential Turkish incursion.
The market was also fretting over the falling US dollar. A weak greenback makes commodities priced in the US unit cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies and therefore boosts crude demand, analysts say.
The European single currency hit a fresh record high at 1.4319 dollars earlier Friday.
Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob said the comments added a "fear factor" premium to the prices. "The psychological warfare between the US and Iran translate to an additional risk premium into oil futures," he said.
By Friday, Brent North Sea crude for December delivery leapt to 83.87 dollars a barrel, which compared with 80.85 dollars for the November contract a week earlier.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, rocketed to 88.59 dollars a barrel, from 83.99 dollars a week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: The price of white metal platinum roared to another record peak thanks to supply problems in major producer South Africa, while gold enjoyed another 27-year peak, traders said.
Platinum, used by the jewellery industry and in the manufacture of catalytic exhausts for cars, hit a record high 1,460 dollars an ounce in London.
The precious metal, which benefits from tight global supplies and fierce demand, has won 35 percent in value over the past year.
The price of gold leapt to the highest level since the start of 1980, winning support from runaway crude oil prices and the weak US dollar.
Gold prices surged as high as 771.10 dollars per ounce, which was last seen in January 1980. In the past year, gold has soared by almost 30 percent in value.
Prices jumped higher "on a combination of a weaker dollar, geopolitical concerns, positive investor sentiment and record high oil prices," said analysts at Barclays Capital.
Gold prices are boosted by record high oil prices, which in turn spark inflationary concerns. The precious metal is seen as a safe haven in times of both rising inflation and geopolitical uncertainty.
On the London Bullion Market, gold jumped to 763 dollars an ounce at Friday's late fixing, from 749.50 dollars a week earlier.
Silver climbed to 13.83 dollars an ounce at Friday's late fixing, from 13.79 dollars a week earlier.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum rose to 1,452 dollars an ounce at the late fixing Friday, from 1,416 dollars a week earlier.
Palladium eased to 370 dollars an ounce, from 377 dollars.
BASE METALS: Most base metals weakened, with lead falling away from last week's record high, as investors examined rising stockpiles in London and weak economic data in the United States.
"The base metals complex continued to sustain losses following more stock inflows into LME warehouses and weak US housing data," said analysts at Barclays Capital.
Signs of a slowing US economy help push prices lower because the country is a major market for base metals.
Lead, meanwhile, ran into profit-taking after last week's historic peak of 3,890 dollars per tonne. The metal has been plagued in recent times by chronically low stockpiles.
On Friday, the price of copper for delivery in three months fell to 7,875 dollars a tonne on the London Metal Exchange, from 8,125 dollars a week earlier.
Three-month aluminium prices gained to 2,559 dollars a tonne, from 2,514 dollars.
Three-month nickel prices eased to 32,300 dollars a tonne, from 32,400 dollars.
Three-month lead prices sank to 3,740 dollars a tonne, from 3,835 dollars.
Three-month zinc prices slid to 2,985 dollars a tonne, from 3,125 dollars.
Three-month tin prices decreased to 16,400 dollars a tonne, from 16,551 dollars.
COCOA: Cocoa prices drifted higher in subdued trade.
By Friday on the LIFFE, London's futures exchange, the price of cocoa for December delivery jumped to 951 pounds a tonne, from 934 pounds a week earlier.
On the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), the December contract climbed to 1,879 dollars a tonne, from 1,830 dollars the previous Friday.
COFFEE: Coffee prices retreated on profit-taking after surging the previous week owing to an absence of rain in producer Brazil.
By Friday on the LIFFE, Robusta quality for November delivery slid to 2,145 dollars a tonne, from 2,168 dollars one week earlier.
On the NYBOT, Arabica for December delivery retreated to 124.66 US cents a pound, from 139 cents.
SUGAR: Sugar prices progressed this week despite an abundance of global supplies from key producers Brazil and India.
By Friday on the LIFFE, the price per tonne of white sugar for December delivery rose to 275.60 pounds, from 270.50 pounds a week earlier.
On the NYBOT, the price of unrefined sugar for March delivery increased to 10.20 US cents a pound, from 9.84 cents a week earlier.
RUBBER: The price of rubber increased by almost 5.0 percent due to very bad weather in major producer Malaysia and soaring crude oil prices.
"The rise in (the) price of rubber is one of the highest in history especially in such a short period," said an official with the Malaysian Rubber Board.
By Friday, the Malaysian Rubber Board's benchmark SMR20 increased to 231.65 US cents per kilogramme, compared with 220.70 US cents last week.
WOOL: The price of wool increased in key producer Australia.
The market enjoyed strong buying interest from China, India, Italy and other European countries.
The Australian wool market finished the week 3.9 percent higher on average, with the Eastern Index gaining 41 Australian cents to close at 9.88 Australian dollars a kilo.
Prices were electrified by fears that a Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq could further tighten world energy supplies, analysts said.
Elsewhere, the platinum hit another all-time pinnacle owing to tight supplies, while gold traded at the highest point since 1980.
OIL: World oil prices gushed to record peaks on simmering tensions along the Turkey-Iraq border-prompting analysts to warn of crude striking 100 dollars per barrel some time soon.
New York's light sweet crude spiked as high as 90.07 dollars per barrel Friday and London's Brent oil leapt to an historic 84.88 dollars Thursday.
OPEC chief Abdalla Salem El-Badri expressed "concern" at the recent price spike but argued that current levels did not reflect the true state of supply and demand.
Iraq's Kurds vowed Friday to fight off any attack on the northern region as pressure mounted in Baghdad and Washington for action against Kurdish rebels to stave off a potential Turkish incursion.
The market was also fretting over the falling US dollar. A weak greenback makes commodities priced in the US unit cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies and therefore boosts crude demand, analysts say.
The European single currency hit a fresh record high at 1.4319 dollars earlier Friday.
Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob said the comments added a "fear factor" premium to the prices. "The psychological warfare between the US and Iran translate to an additional risk premium into oil futures," he said.
By Friday, Brent North Sea crude for December delivery leapt to 83.87 dollars a barrel, which compared with 80.85 dollars for the November contract a week earlier.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, rocketed to 88.59 dollars a barrel, from 83.99 dollars a week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: The price of white metal platinum roared to another record peak thanks to supply problems in major producer South Africa, while gold enjoyed another 27-year peak, traders said.
Platinum, used by the jewellery industry and in the manufacture of catalytic exhausts for cars, hit a record high 1,460 dollars an ounce in London.
The precious metal, which benefits from tight global supplies and fierce demand, has won 35 percent in value over the past year.
The price of gold leapt to the highest level since the start of 1980, winning support from runaway crude oil prices and the weak US dollar.
Gold prices surged as high as 771.10 dollars per ounce, which was last seen in January 1980. In the past year, gold has soared by almost 30 percent in value.
Prices jumped higher "on a combination of a weaker dollar, geopolitical concerns, positive investor sentiment and record high oil prices," said analysts at Barclays Capital.
Gold prices are boosted by record high oil prices, which in turn spark inflationary concerns. The precious metal is seen as a safe haven in times of both rising inflation and geopolitical uncertainty.
On the London Bullion Market, gold jumped to 763 dollars an ounce at Friday's late fixing, from 749.50 dollars a week earlier.
Silver climbed to 13.83 dollars an ounce at Friday's late fixing, from 13.79 dollars a week earlier.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum rose to 1,452 dollars an ounce at the late fixing Friday, from 1,416 dollars a week earlier.
Palladium eased to 370 dollars an ounce, from 377 dollars.
BASE METALS: Most base metals weakened, with lead falling away from last week's record high, as investors examined rising stockpiles in London and weak economic data in the United States.
"The base metals complex continued to sustain losses following more stock inflows into LME warehouses and weak US housing data," said analysts at Barclays Capital.
Signs of a slowing US economy help push prices lower because the country is a major market for base metals.
Lead, meanwhile, ran into profit-taking after last week's historic peak of 3,890 dollars per tonne. The metal has been plagued in recent times by chronically low stockpiles.
On Friday, the price of copper for delivery in three months fell to 7,875 dollars a tonne on the London Metal Exchange, from 8,125 dollars a week earlier.
Three-month aluminium prices gained to 2,559 dollars a tonne, from 2,514 dollars.
Three-month nickel prices eased to 32,300 dollars a tonne, from 32,400 dollars.
Three-month lead prices sank to 3,740 dollars a tonne, from 3,835 dollars.
Three-month zinc prices slid to 2,985 dollars a tonne, from 3,125 dollars.
Three-month tin prices decreased to 16,400 dollars a tonne, from 16,551 dollars.
COCOA: Cocoa prices drifted higher in subdued trade.
By Friday on the LIFFE, London's futures exchange, the price of cocoa for December delivery jumped to 951 pounds a tonne, from 934 pounds a week earlier.
On the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), the December contract climbed to 1,879 dollars a tonne, from 1,830 dollars the previous Friday.
COFFEE: Coffee prices retreated on profit-taking after surging the previous week owing to an absence of rain in producer Brazil.
By Friday on the LIFFE, Robusta quality for November delivery slid to 2,145 dollars a tonne, from 2,168 dollars one week earlier.
On the NYBOT, Arabica for December delivery retreated to 124.66 US cents a pound, from 139 cents.
SUGAR: Sugar prices progressed this week despite an abundance of global supplies from key producers Brazil and India.
By Friday on the LIFFE, the price per tonne of white sugar for December delivery rose to 275.60 pounds, from 270.50 pounds a week earlier.
On the NYBOT, the price of unrefined sugar for March delivery increased to 10.20 US cents a pound, from 9.84 cents a week earlier.
RUBBER: The price of rubber increased by almost 5.0 percent due to very bad weather in major producer Malaysia and soaring crude oil prices.
"The rise in (the) price of rubber is one of the highest in history especially in such a short period," said an official with the Malaysian Rubber Board.
By Friday, the Malaysian Rubber Board's benchmark SMR20 increased to 231.65 US cents per kilogramme, compared with 220.70 US cents last week.
WOOL: The price of wool increased in key producer Australia.
The market enjoyed strong buying interest from China, India, Italy and other European countries.
The Australian wool market finished the week 3.9 percent higher on average, with the Eastern Index gaining 41 Australian cents to close at 9.88 Australian dollars a kilo.