(New York)

Commodities have been doing great this year. The big rise in demand coupled with weak supplies because of COVID have led to a surge in prices. However, one bright spot—metals—might have some trouble looming on the horizon. There is increasing speculation that the US may scrap pennies. If that happens, it could put a dent in the copper and zinc markets. This dent would not only come from a lack of new demand, but the fact that pennies would be taken out of circulation and recycled. This would amplify the effect by boosting supply to the system and lowering demand for newly-mined metal.

FINSUM: This might have a strong psychological effect even though the total quantity of zinc from pennies accounts for less than 4% of total annual output.

(Houston)

Commodities are doing very well this year. Every big bank, including Goldman Sachs, thinks we may be starting a new commodities super cycle. The big question is exactly which commodities and who will be the big winners. Everything from food, to metals, to oil has been rising and this creates some clear winners, particularly producers of those commodities. That means a big windfall for countries like Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Chile, who are big net exporters of various raw materials. It is net importers that get hurt the worst, with an absolute behemoth—China—likely to suffer the most, as it is one of the largest buyers of commodities in the world. In fact, it almost single-handed drove the big commodities boom in the 2000s.

FINSUM: So the key here is picking the right emerging markets. Additionally, investors may want to double-think investing in oil, as production hikes could undermine prices quickly.

(Houston)

Oil has been on a great run this year. Underlying crude oil, as well as ETFs like XLE, have been on fire of late, and most will have noticed the higher prices at the pump. A number of forces—like rising demand and tight supply—have been supporting the market, including OPEC lowering output. All of this has led one prominent bank, Piper Sandler, to say that oil is headed back to $100 per barrel, a level it has not seen in years. According to Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler, “I could actually see a number that could be north of 100 in the next, say, six to ... 12 months from here … To us, it looks like you could have more than 40% upside to get back to the old highs in 2018”.

FINSUM: It is worth noting that this is by far the most bullish call on the street. BAML and Goldman Sachs have their calls for this year at $67 and $75, respectively.

(New York)

You have probably seen a few articles floating around, but the last several weeks have really hammered it home: we are at the precipice of a new commodities supercycle. The pandemic brought on a huge fall in commodities prices because of a tumble in demand. But as the economy is heating back up, demand is jumping and supply is not matching it. Raw materials demand has surged across the board. Most have been paying attention to oil prices, but check out others like copper and metals. Goldman sees the dawn of a new decade-long demand surge akin to what happened between 2000 and 2010, when the rise of emerging markets/BRICS drove huge raw materials consumption. This time around Goldman says that the green industrial revolution will create a “capex cycle” on part with what happened to emerging markets in the 2000s.

FINSUM: The bank also argues that social and tax policies that are favoring income redistribution to poorer households is bullish for commodities since those households tend to spend a higher percentage of it.