The Case for Commodities in 2010

The biggest emerging economies have ambitious plans that require a greater share of the world’s limited commodities. This trend is spurring profound and permanent disruptions in how these resources are allocated now and in the future. For investors, these disruptions present opportunities.

Simply put, an investment in natural resources is a vote of confidence in global economic growth.

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A Decade of Hot Commodities

We’ve updated our popular Periodic Table of Commodity Returns, and the headline news should come as no surprise – 2009 was a complete turnaround from the sector’s 2008 performance.

Commodities (as measured by the Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index) rose 24 percent in 2009, the largest single-year increase since the early 1970s.

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Pan American Silver

Reports record net income, record silver and gold production RENO, NV - Pan American Silver Tuesday reported a 172% increase in net income for the third quarter, along with record silver and gold production. CEO Geoff Burns said, "The main drivers of our third quarter performance were a well executed startup of the San Vicente mine expansion, which has been producing silver beyond our expectations, and a solid quarter at Manantial Espejo. " (more...)

Chile Gold Production Increase

Chile to triple gold production by 2015 SANTIAGO - According to research undertaken by the state organisation, the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco), the country's gold production could triple by 2015, putting the South American nation possibly into the world's top seven global producers. Chile's current gold production is put at 39.2 tonnes, but new developments and expansions - most notably Barrick's Pascua Lama project - could bring output to 103 tonnes by 2015.  Indeed this could even be an underestimation with a number of other potential projects waiting in the wings. Much of Chile's current production is byproduct output from the country's huge copper mining industry, the world's largest, but more recent discoveries of potential gold/copper orebodies high in the Andes, which have been made viable by the big recent increase in the gold price, could mean that the country's output increases substantially in the years ahead.  However the big problem at the moment is the shortage of capital for major gold developments of this type which require billions of dollars to get them on stream. (more...)

Copper Prices Rally

Copper prices rally on brighter demand prospects LONDON (Reuters) - Copper rallied on Monday as demand prospects brightened after Codelco, the world's top copper miner, raised premium charges for Asian customers in 2010, while a weaker dollar also helped boost industrial metals. Three-month copper futures on the London Metal Exchange MCU3 traded at $6,572 a tonne at 1537 GMT from $6,490 on Friday, when a weaker than expected monthly jobs report from the United States hit the dollar and sentiment. Chile's Codelco raised its term premium for copper to the Japanese port of Yokohama to $75 a tonne in 2010, and to $74 for South Korean buyers, in anticipation of rising demand in parts of Asia, industry sources said on Monday. (more...)