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Prepare for a bumpy year in coffee, oil and other commodities

    • A worker harvesting coffee beans at a farm in Colombia. Brace yourself for higher prices – Brazil and Vietnam, the world’s top producers of the Arabica and Robusta bean varieties, face a crop shortfall.
    • A worker harvesting coffee beans at a farm in Colombia. Brace yourself for higher prices – Brazil and Vietnam, the world’s top producers of the Arabica and Robusta bean varieties, face a crop shortfall. PHOTO: AFP

    Javier Blas

    Published Tue, Dec 31, 2024 · 05:00 AM

    BEFORE it is too late, order your espresso. It will be more expensive in 2025, and anyone trading – or observing – energy and commodity markets into the new year will need caffeine to survive.

    First, a bit of honesty – 2025 looks awfully foggy. The supply-and-demand balance of key commodities can swing from hugely oversupplied to massively in deficit, depending on unpredictable politics. My crystal ball is about as good as anyone else’s about what Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu and several others will do.

    More than ever, predicting commodity prices in the new year is about forecasting political choices. Still, we can anticipate a few themes – and few bits of commodity trivia I will be watching through the new year:

    CommoditiesoilCoffee

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