In recent days the following three global trends have evoked much interest amongst market participants:
1. The production, consumption and import of commodities in China have increased materially.
2. The USD weakness is persisting. The China letting CNY appreciate against USD is noteworthy.
3. BP in its yearly outlook virtually declared "peak oil" demand, stating that the oil demand growth may not be seen through 2050.
These three trends are important in my view as these could materially influence the markets in short term.
For past two decades, China has been a major driver of the commodities' demand and hence prices in the global market. The slowdown in Chinese economy in past 5years has led to correction in commodity prices, impacting a large number of commodity driven economies like Australia, Canada, OPEC countries, Brazil etc. This is cited as one of the reasons of sustained deflationary pressure on US, Japan and EU economies. The central bankers in these economies have been able to unabashedly print money to support their fiscal profligacy as the inflation has not been a concern.
As per the latest reports that trend might be about to change. As per a recent ING Bank research report, "Domestic demand is driving China's economic growth. Retail sales returned to positive growth. And new-infra and traditional infrastructure investments increased, which matched the growth in these items in industrial production. But external circulation may remain a challenge to growth." The reports further highlights that "China’s new-infra plan and traditional infrastructure projects in transportation have led overall investment spending. Fixed asset investment (FAI) shrank only -0.3%YoY YTD in August from - 1.6%YoY YTD in July. The "computer, telecommunication" category, which represents new-infra investment plans, grew 11.7%YoY YTD, which results in part from China’s push towards self-reliance in technology. Rail transportation investment also grew 6.4%YoY YTD.
These growth numbers are high compared to the headline growth rates, which means these are the engine of investment growth in China currently."
The Chinese monetary authorities recently allowed CNY to appreciate below 6.8/USD level. This could be seen as a reconciliatory gesture by Chinese authorities to the global community. China has allowed CNY to weaken even above 7/USD level in the trade and currency war with USA and Japan. The international relations of China have worsened materially after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. This reversal of CNY could be seen as first, though small, sign of China wilting under global pressure. This could be comforting news for the global markets.
British Petroleum's (BP) annual outlook fo energy market is respected world over. Last year, BP forecasted demand for fossil fuels could peak by 2030. However, in 2020 outlook, BP has made a major shift in its assessment. As per the energy major, peak demand for oil may have already happened. The report implies that global crude demand may never again surpasses 2019’s average of around 100 million B/D. A natural corollary to this is that that 2019 could also mark the peak of carbon emissions from energy use.
This may potentially change many things - global trade balance, sustainability investments, geopolitics, cost of doing manufacturing, etc. Arab world countries making conciliatory moves towards Israel may, for example, be just one of the effects of this. BP announcing major investment plans with RIL in renewable energy sector to support electric mobility is another.
