Five Charts to Watch in Global Commodities This Week

(Bloomberg) -- A record maple syrup bounty in Canada is ready to be tapped by global markets. Earnings season for gold companies kicks off when Newmont Corp. unveils its quarterly results. And Europe’s biggest chemicals producing nation is languishing.

Here are five notable charts to consider in global commodity markets as the week gets underway.

Gold

Earnings season is beginning for gold producers, with Newmont kicking off second-quarter results on Wednesday. Gold’s 16% rally this year, setting new all-time highs along the way, should bode well for the mining companies, since rising prices help counter the costs of digging up the precious metal. Analysts and investors will be paying close attention to company disclosures on just exactly how much it costs to produce an ounce of gold — known as all-in sustaining costs — in light of surging bullion prices. Spot gold swung between gains and losses Monday.

Oil

US crude production has been holding at a record high of 13.3 million barrels a day in July despite a steady decline in the number of rigs drilling in the oil patch. The number of American rigs are down nearly 10% since mid-April, sinking to the lowest level since December 2021, according to the Baker Hughes US oil rig count. Higher productivity per new well and using some of the stockpiles of drilled but uncompleted wells is helping boost the nation’s output.

Maple Syrup

Pancake lovers rejoice! Early signs are pointing to an unprecedented maple syrup harvest this year in Canada — the world’s biggest supplier by far — thanks to a record season from Quebec farmers. Quebec, which accounts for 92% of Canadian output, churned out an all-time high of 239 million pounds of the sweet syrup this season, according to the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, the group that oversees all aspects of the industry in the French-speaking province.

Chemicals

The German chemicals industry is struggling to recover from the shock of high energy costs in 2022, which helped drive down capacity utilization to lows not seen since the global financial crisis of 2007-2009, according to data from the industry association VCI. This time around, the recovery is much weaker. While VCI has seen some rebound in recent months, it doesn’t anticipate output to return to levels seen before the energy crisis. Chemicals are made from naphtha and propane, which are crude derivatives, and are used in a range of products from toys and electronics to cars.

Carbon Capture

The US is a global leader in capturing carbon dioxide emissions — and its lead is only expected to widen thanks to incentives under the Biden administration, according to BloombergNEF. The US is estimated to have the capacity to capture as much as 164 million tons of carbon by 2035 — almost equal to the next three markets combined. Carbon is captured mainly from natural gas processing and currently used for enhanced oil recovery. The global carbon capture sector attracted more than $11 billion in investments last year — nearly double 2022 levels — with the US taking a 25% share.

(Corrects carbon capture chart data for 2035 in July 21/22 charticle.)

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