Commodity prices pull back from last week's record highs

Commodity prices have abated after surging to record highs amid profit taking and hopes for progress in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine last week.

The largest contributor to the price slump was the negotiations launched between Russia and Ukraine last Thursday on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in southern Turkiye in the hope of bringing an end to the war and easing supply worries.

The price of the wheat, after hitting a record $13.6350 per bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, ended the week with an 8.4% loss.

Russia and Ukraine are both significant grain producers and exporters. The ongoing conflict has raised concerns of a possible grain shortage.

Noting that demand for wheat weakened after the price rises, analysts said Western sanctions had only a limited effect on wheat.

Palladium closed week with a 6.7% decrease after seeing a record-high $3,435 per ounce as 40% of global production is in Russia.

Last week, the prices of copper and platinum fell 4.6% and 4.5%, respectively. Thanks to the increase in copper production in China, prices later eased.

Nickel was a hot issue on the commodity market last week, with prices more than doubling to test $100,000 amid supply shortages and strengthening speculative transactions.

With the backing of geopolitical risks, the price of gold rose by 0.84% at the last week's close.

After the US announced a ban on Russian oil, natural gas, and coal and the UK declared it would phase out these imports, the price of Brent oil jumped to $139 per barrel before ending the week with a 4.7% loss amid diplomatic steps and reports on new alternative suppliers.

The price of natural gas on the New York Stock Exchange also slipped by 4.9% at Friday's close.

A mixed course was seen in agricultural commodities last week with cotton gaining 0.4% and cocoa 0.2%, while coffee lost 1.4% and sugar 0.5%.

The prices of corn and soybeans both went up by 1.1%.