Commodity Compass Newsletter Weeks 50–51, 2025
During Weeks 50 and 51 of 2025, commodity markets globally showcased a blend of selective rebounds, end-of-year adjustments, and persistent uptrends of some industrial and precious metals. Price changes over this period were mainly influenced by demand realignment, stock changes, and seasonal usage in different parts of the world.
There were still some food and beverage commodities under pressure overall, but a few commodities were able to break away from the trend. US beef prices were down from $409.2/lb in Week 50 to $406.3/lb in Week 51, a sign of slack demand. Meanwhile, US chicken prices went up from $114.9/lb to $116.5/lb.
UK cocoa prices were up slightly, continuing their recent trend, from GBP 4,307/MT to 4,312/MT. Meanwhile, coconut oil in Europe kept on declining as prices dropped from $2,290/MT to $2,216/MT. UK coffee prices have weakened substantially as they dropped from $4,018/MT to $3,713/MT. US maize prices were down, dropping from 444.7 to 441.1 cents per bushel. Palm oil prices in China were lower, from $1,220/MT to $1,198/MT. US rice prices have dropped further from $9.97/CWT to $9.60/CWT. Soybean meal prices experienced a slight improvement as they rose just a bit from $299.9/MT to $300.0/MT. Soybean oil prices fell from 51.4 to 49.0 cents per lb while soybeans dropped from 1,089 to 1,059 cents per bushel. Global sugar prices continued to soften from 14.87 to 14.77 cents per lb. US wheat prices fell sharply from 532.3 to 510.7 cents per bushel.
Metals and minerals were slightly different but mainly positively refer to each other trends. Copper prices in the UK have moved from $11,620/MT to $11,725/MT while aluminium prices have seen an increase from $2,880/MT to $2,907/MT. Nickel prices have been on the decline, dropping from $14,679/MT to $14,428/MT. China iron ore prices have witnessed a minor rise from $106.33/MT to $106.58/MT. Lead prices have decreased from $1,982/MT to $1,960/MT. Tin prices went through a huge increase from $40,652/MT to $42,295/MT. Zinc prices have also declined, falling from $3,127/MT to $3,065/MT.
Chemical markets are showing both mixed and generally firm conditions. China ammonia prices have been raised from $350.7/MT to $357.2/MT. Benzene prices have fallen from $743/MT to $736/MT. Caustic soda prices have been on the decline for a long time and have gone down from $106.3/MT to $105.9/MT. Ethylene prices have remained the same at $720/MT. Methanol prices have been increased from $296.2/MT to $302.3/MT. Propylene prices have only slightly decreased from $881/MT to $872/MT. Soda ash prices have been increased marginally from $178.1/MT to $178.6/MT.
Prices for precious metals maintained a steady upward trend. Gold prices rose from $4,243/oz to $4,324/oz. Platinum price surged a lot from $1,691/oz to $1,887/oz. Silver prices increased quite a lot as well, from $61.24/oz to $65.28/oz.
The energy markets were coming down from a peak after the very strong Christmas season. European coal prices for power generation were down a bit from $96.6/MT to $96.2/MT. Prices of crude oil in Europe decreased from $61.8/bbl to $60.0/bbl. US natural gas prices fell from $4.49 to $3.97/MMBtu.
In general, Weeks 50-51 of 2025 saw a decline in food commodities, metals and precious metals showing selective strength, mixed trends in chemicals, and falling energy prices as the market moved toward year-end consolidation.
