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LONDON, Sept 24: Oil prices climbed this week as Hurricane Rita barreled through the warm waters of the US Gulf of Mexico, threatening potentially serious damage to platforms and refineries in its path.
With Rita churning towards the Texas and Louisiana coastline, most other commodities were lifted by the rising cost of oil, making them cheaper to investors.
Copper struck a historic record while gold notched up a multi-year high.
The United States was bracing for its second devastating storm in less than four weeks in a region struggling still to recover from the damage of Hurricane Katrina.
The Commodities Research Bureau’s index of 17 commodities climbed to 326.28 points on Friday from 317.93 points the previous week. It had hit 337.18 points on September 2, its highest level since November 1980.
GOLD: Gold prices hit their highest level for 18 years on the back of high oil prices and hurricane concerns.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold rose to $472.75 an ounce on Thursday morning, its highest since January 1988. Gold prices have jumped around 10 per cent since the end of August.
On the London Bullion Market, gold prices climbed to 462.65 dollars per ounce at the late fixing on Friday from 458.10 dollars the previous week.
SILVER: Silver prices hit a three-and-a-half-month high, in line with gold and copper gains.
Silver hit 7.4225 per ounce on Thursday, a level last seen on June 7.
On the London Bullion Market, silver prices rose to 7.29 dollars per ounce at the late fixing Friday from 7.08 dollars the previous week.
PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM: Platinum and palladium prices moved higher thanks to rising investor interest.
Platinum reached its highest level since April 2004 on Thursday, at 930 dollars per ounce.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market (LPPM), an ounce of platinum was traded for 921 dollars per ounce at the late fixing Friday, from 918 dollars the previous week.
Palladium was valued at 193 dollars, up from 187 dollars.
BASE METALS: Base metals prices rebounded in the wake of a record-breaking surge in copper prices.
On Friday, three-month copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) hit a 3,795.50 dollars per tonne — the highest price for the metal since it was first quoted in its current form in 1870.
OIL: World oil prices took off as Hurricane Rita — following a similar path to Katrina through the US Gulf of Mexico — rattled an already-tight global oil market.
Prices eased slightly Rita was downgraded to a category four storm late Thursday and appeared set to spare major Texas refineries, but remained a serious threat to US energy infrastructures.
Around 74 per cent of the 819 offshore oil platforms in the Gulf and 65 per cent of the 134 wells had been evacuated.
Opec’s decision to make all of its crude oil available to the market was overshadowed by Rita. The cartel announced it would provide markets with an extra two million barrels per day (bpd) from October 1 if there were demand.
The barrel of Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November rose to 63.54 dollars late Friday, compared to 61.81 dollars the previous week.
In New York, the barrel of crude for delivery in November jumped to 65.90 dollars from 63.34 dollars.
RUBBER: Rubber prices gained ground following rains in major producing countries, and amid fears over Hurricane Rita.
Singapore’s RSS 3 December contract edged upward to 167.25 US cents on Friday, from 164.75 cents.
COCOA: Cocoa prices declined in the face of a bumper new crop.
“Forecasts for an early and abundant crop have outweighed concern over Ivory Coast tensions to keep pressure on the market,” Refco analyst Ann Prendergast said.
COFFEE: The price of coffee firmed as Rita progressed towards the southern United States.
On the NYBoT, Arabica for December delivery rose to 91.80 cents per pound from 90.40 cents.
SUGAR: Sugar prices eased after reaching a four-and-a-half-year high point the previous week in New York.
By Friday on LIFFE, the price of a ton of white sugar for December delivery stood at 291 dollars, from 298 dollars a week earlier.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Maize and soya prices mainly strengthened on weekly export data from major producer United States.
The US Department of Agriculture published Thursday a strong set of figures that supported higher prices, said Allendale analyst Joe Victor.
COTTON: Cotton prices climbed because of fears that Rita might damage harvests in Texas and Louisiana.
“The market’s focus is on Rita and the damage that it could cause to the cotton crop in Texas,” said Prendergast.
On the New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE), the December contract stood at 51.75 US cents per pound on Thursday, up from 50 cents a week earlier.
The Cotton Outlook Index of physical cotton fell to 55.45 cents on Thursday from 53.95 cents last week.
WOOL: Wool prices steadied in Australia, remaining close to a five and a half year low.
The Australian Eastern index edged down to 6.79 Australian dollars per kilo on Thursday from 6.81 AUD last week.
The British Wooltops index firmed to 400 pence Thursday from 396 pence last week.—AFP
