Commodity Blog

Crude oil headed to the fourth weekly gain on hopes that the US and Europe would be able to resolve their debt problems. The European leaders announced after the summit €159 billion to help Greece and accepted a temporary default for the nation to prevent the crisis from spreading. September futures for delivery crude oil gained $0.48 to $99.61 per barrel in electronic trading on NYMEX before trading at $99.43.

Copper fell to the lowest level in four weeks after the report showed that manufacturing in China, the biggest user of the metal in the world, slowed. China’s Flash Manufacturing PMI and Flash Manufacturing Output Index were at the lowest level in 28 months, according to HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index Press Release. September futures for delivery of copper slid $0.0525 (1.2 percent) to $4.3835 as of 13:09 on COMEX, the biggest decline since June 23.

Wheat dropped as demand for the US exports declines, while exports from Russia grow. The US Department of Agriculture reported that US export sales declined 22 percent to 403,528 metric tons, the lowest since the end of May, in the week ended July 14 from a week ago. Russian agriculture minister claimed that the country may ship to foreign buyers as much as 18 million tons in the year that started July 1. September futures for delivery of wheat contracted $0.1975 (2.8 percent) to $6.7725 per bushel by 13:15 on CBoT, the biggest drop since June 30.

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