Commodities
How China’s Faltering Growth Threatens to Derail Commodities Markets
- Energy transition offers new avenues for consumption
- Many markets including coal and pork are oversupplied
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China’s stuttering economy is now the biggest threat to global commodities demand, as economic activity and credit flows in the world’s top buyer deteriorate sharply and put Beijing’s modest growth targets at risk.
Commodities have so far held up better than other assets as the economy has worsened. Freed from the constraints of the pandemic, fuel consumption has risen. Expectations that the government will be forced to amp up stimulus to rescue growth, as well as the onset of a seasonal recovery in demand, have also buoyed some markets.