6
-
50
100
150
200
250
Metals price index, Feb 2020 – Feb 2023
-
50
100
150
200
250
300
Commodity markets have seen unprecedented volatility with significant supply/demand
imbalances in critical materials
Context Setting Technology Policy &Regulatory Geopolitics Climate Market
Brent crude oil price index, Jan 2019 – Jan 2025
Source(s): S&P Reuters Financial Times
Key
Tin Aluminium Copper Cobalt Nickel
1 2
4
5
Brent
crude
oil
Other
metals
Recent
changes
⦁ Copper – vacillated on economic news out of China and DeepSeek
AI’s efficiency claims, creating uncertainty around outlook of
datacentre growth
⦁ US metal prices recently soar due to tariff announcements
⦁ Sharp decline due to Covid which led to demand collapse,
exacerbated by increased oil production due to price war in
OPEC+
Oil prices surged in 2022 due to post-pandemic recovery of
demand, supply constraints from OPEC+ cuts, Russia-Ukraine war
which led to supply disruptions and sanctions
Prices have stayed relatively high due to OPEC+ continuing to limit
production and reduced investment in new drilling constraining
supply
1
2⦁
Pandemic related challenges in 2021 led to shortage of critical
materials, and significant delays driving commodity price volatility
⦁ Metal prices fell due to a global economic slowdown, rising interest
rates, supply recovery, lower EV battery metal demand
– Nickel saw more volatility due to initial optimism over China’s
post Covid reopening &temporary global supply constraints
towards the end of 2022, but in 2023 oversupply of Nickel and
waning EV demand drove prices down again
4⦁
5
$18/barrel
$123/barrel
$79/barrel
3⦁
3
-
50
100
150
200
250
Metals price index, Feb 2020 – Feb 2023
-
50
100
150
200
250
300
Commodity markets have seen unprecedented volatility with significant supply/demand
imbalances in critical materials
Context Setting Technology Policy &Regulatory Geopolitics Climate Market
Brent crude oil price index, Jan 2019 – Jan 2025
Source(s): S&P Reuters Financial Times
Key
Tin Aluminium Copper Cobalt Nickel
1 2
4
5
Brent
crude
oil
Other
metals
Recent
changes
⦁ Copper – vacillated on economic news out of China and DeepSeek
AI’s efficiency claims, creating uncertainty around outlook of
datacentre growth
⦁ US metal prices recently soar due to tariff announcements
⦁ Sharp decline due to Covid which led to demand collapse,
exacerbated by increased oil production due to price war in
OPEC+
Oil prices surged in 2022 due to post-pandemic recovery of
demand, supply constraints from OPEC+ cuts, Russia-Ukraine war
which led to supply disruptions and sanctions
Prices have stayed relatively high due to OPEC+ continuing to limit
production and reduced investment in new drilling constraining
supply
1
2⦁
Pandemic related challenges in 2021 led to shortage of critical
materials, and significant delays driving commodity price volatility
⦁ Metal prices fell due to a global economic slowdown, rising interest
rates, supply recovery, lower EV battery metal demand
– Nickel saw more volatility due to initial optimism over China’s
post Covid reopening &temporary global supply constraints
towards the end of 2022, but in 2023 oversupply of Nickel and
waning EV demand drove prices down again
4⦁
5
$18/barrel
$123/barrel
$79/barrel
3⦁
3
