(Bloomberg) — Just as investors weigh up the US-China trade punch-up, markets need to adjust to a whole new front. US sanctions against Russian companies and oligarchs are upending aluminium. The metal’s surging, while shares in United Co. Rusal are in the grinder. What should we expect this week? And what does it mean for Glencore Plc?
On top of that, there are two gatherings that’ll shape the big-picture agenda. In Asia, China’s leadership, including President Xi Jinping, will deliver their take from the Boao Forum for Asia. And in Peru, heads of state from across the Americas will gather in Lima for a summit that may provide a backdrop for a breakthrough on fraught Nafta talks between the US, Mexico and Canada.
Beyond that lot, trade tensions still feature prominently: the copper industry meets in Chile for Cesco week to assess the outlook; agricultural investors will pore over snapshots of supply and demand from the US and Brazil; and the world’s oil heavyweights congregate in India just before Opec and the International Energy Agency offer their latest assessments.
Davos, without snow
With the spotlight on China’s leadership as trade tensions spike, investors will track the tenor and substance of remarks coming out of this week’s Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan, the local equivalent of Davos. President Xi’s going, together with other senior officials and invitees including International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde. The fight with the US carries implications for materials across the board, especially soy, metals and gold.
Before the meeting, Foreign Minister Wang Yi signalled there’d be details on new reforms, including measures to further open the second-largest economy. After the talking’s done — with Xi’s address due on Tuesday — mainland trade data on Friday will give a snapshot of how commodity demand stacked up over the first quarter. Watch for the prints on oil, iron, steel, copper and soybeans.
Nafta deal or no deal?
A gathering of heads of state and business leaders in Lima, Peru, this week may be the stage for some good news on trade. The US administration is said to be pushing for a preliminary Nafta deal to announce at the Summit of the Americas on Friday or Saturday. President Donald Trump has said that the exemption to steel and aluminium tariffs granted to Canada and Mexico will expire May 1 if he’s not satisfied with the Nafta talks.
On Thursday, Barrick Gold Corp. president Kelvin Dushnisky and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. chief executive officer Richard Adkerson participate in a series of CEO panels. Investors, traders and analysts will be eager to learn how executives are navigating the US-China trade friction and how they would assess impact on demand for metals.
Bear Baiting
Global trade tensions extend well beyond the US-China standoff, with Washington’s robust new sanctions against Russian tycoons, companies and allies of President Vladimir Putin roiling markets. Push-back from the Kremlin will come: Russia’s Foreign Ministry is working on measures, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on a state television channel.
The fallout is hitting aluminium given the importance of United Co. Rusal, the world’s biggest producer outside China, and billionaire owner Oleg Deripaska. Rusal’s initial assessment is the sanctions may result in technical defaults, and it’s likely the moves will hurt the company’s business. Aluminium is rallying in London on Monday, extending Friday’s gains, while Rusal stock plunges. All that may pose a challenge for Glencore, one of Rusal’s top holders.
CESCO meet
Over in Santiago, top mining executives, traders and investors will gather for the annual Cesco copper week, with talking points spanning the global trade brawl to labour tensions. The market is enduring something of an identity crisis, with its short-term outlook dimmed by large stockpiles and the US-China trade showdown that threatens to undermine demand.
Strikes, or the lack thereof, will also likely feature in conversations among the attendees. Prices climbed last year after a 44-day strike at BHP Billiton Ltd.’s Escondida mine in Chile disrupted supply, helping push the market into a deficit. While this year is poised to be the busiest on record for workers’ contract negotiations, there’s growing optimism that companies and unions could reach an agreement, avoiding disruptions.
WASDE and Conab
Soybeans have been a target of China’s planned retaliation against the US tariffs, derailing the oilseed’s rally this year. Is the worst yet to come for American growers? The US. Department of Agriculture’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, known as WASDE, may provide some clues. The data is due on Tuesday, the same day Brazil’s crop agency Conab releases its soybean and corn outlook. The US and Brazil compete against each other in supplying grains and soybeans to the Asian nation.
Traders will scrutinise both estimates for exports for clues on what to expect from the tensions between the US and China. The brewing trade war also has roiled grain and livestock markets and it’s likely volatility will persist. A pork tariff issued by the Chinese government, and the threat of similar taxes on soybeans, have led to an uncertain view for American agricultural shipments, just as farmers gear up to plant the coming season’s crops.
Oil’s biggest guns
This week oil traders will watch out for reports from two of the industry’s most influential institutions — Opec and the International Energy Agency. The pair will publish monthly reports with their latest forecasts for supply and demand in 2018, which may be provide clues which way prices are headed.
The snapshot from Opec, which has been curbing supply to reduce a glut comes on Thursday, with the IEA assessment due the next day. Also in the focus this week, the market’s biggest guns including Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih, Opec Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol will gather in New Delhi for International Energy Forum.
Bulls versus bears
Hedge funds have been increasing their net-short position on raw sugar and traders aren’t optimistic on the sweetener’s outlook either, as a global glut persists. Half of the analysts and traders surveyed by Bloomberg were bearish, the most since December.
Sentiment was also negative on soybeans, while traders and analysts were split on natural gas and gold.
