Commodity Markets Outlook, January 2015
Broad-based commodity price declines occurred in the second half of 2014. Crude oil prices declined the most, down 55 percent to $47 per bbl (barrel) in early January, from a high of $115 per bbl in late-June 2014, bringing an end to a four-year pe...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21348 |
| Summary: | Broad-based commodity price declines
occurred in the second half of 2014. Crude oil prices
declined the most, down 55 percent to $47 per bbl (barrel)
in early January, from a high of $115 per bbl in late-June
2014, bringing an end to a four-year period of high and
stable prices. The oil price drop is the third-largest
seven-month decline of the past three decades - only the 67
percent drop from November 1985 to March 1986 and the 75
percent drop from July to December 2008 were larger.
Agricultural, metal, and precious metal prices weakened as
well, down by 6, 8, and 9 percent, respectively, in 2014
fourth quarter (Q4) from the previous quarter. Ample
supplies, disappointing global growth prospects, and an
appreciating Unites States (U.S.) dollar have all weighed on
prices. In oil markets, a sequence of (upward) supply and
(downward) demand revisions, along with organization of
petroleum exporting countries (OPEC's) abandoning of
supply management, have played a pivotal role in the price collapse. |
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