Double dip La Niña could drive coffee and cocoa yields higher
We are in the middle of a La Niña event that could see weather patterns alter this year. We had a brief break in a La Niña event that occurred last year, but the natural weather-altering phenomenon has returned quickly (hence referred to a double-dip event). The event could be beneficial to coffee and cocoa growing and hence be price negative.
The map below highlights some of the typical changes in weather patterns that result from La Niña events (relative to normal weather at this time of the year).
Source: NOAA
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the probability of La Niña lasting to end of northern hemisphere winter is 85-90%.
Coffee
A cool southern hemisphere summer could reduce heat damage to Arabica coffeein Brazil, where 45% of the global production of Arabica coffee comes from. Although rains started late in Brazil, flowering of coffee bushes has progressed well, indicating potential for recovery in yields. CONAB, the Brazilian government agency responsible for agricultural and food information, normally the most conservative of forecasters, expects that Arabica output from the country could grow between 22% to 30% this year[1]. Part of the strong growth is due to the “biennial cycles” in Brazil, where yields dip one year and rise the following. In addition, area planted is expected to have risen by 3.8%. But strong growth in yields are expected to come from favourable weather this year.
Cocoa
Cooler weather will also help reduce heat damage to the main cocoacrop that is currently being harvested in Africa. Africa accounts for approximately 70% of global cocoa output. Although wetter weather could damage some of the Indonesian crop (which accounts for less than 10% of global output), the African crop dominates global production.
Although, we caution that not all La Niña years have improved cocoa production, the majority have. The chart below shows how much cocoa production has increased or decreased relative to trend during La Niña years.
[1] ACOMPANHAMENTO DA SAFRA BRASILEIRA: café, V. 5 – SAFRA 2018 – N.1 – Primeiro levantamento | January 2018
Nitesh Shah, Research Analyst at ETF Securities
Niteshis a Commodities Strategist at ETF Securities. Nitesh has 13 years of experience as an economist and strategist, covering a wide range of markets and asset classes. Prior to joining ETF Securities, Nitesh was an economist covering the European structured finance markets at Moody’s Investors Service and was a member of Moody’s global macroeconomics team. Before that he was an economist at the Pension Protection Fund and an equity strategist at Decision Economics. He started his career at HSBC Investment Bank. Nitesh holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Master of Arts in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University (USA).
Precious metals, following a period of high profit taking outflows, saw inflows of US$29m last week. Silver ETPs were the primary beneficiary with inflows of US$ 25m. The current gold/silver ratio of 75 implies that silver remains more attractively valued relative to gold. Furthermore the previously overbought positions in silver implied by the CFTC data has now corrected back to the long-term average. Recent macro data has been mixed, with delivered results broadly missing expectations, expectations for a rate hike this week remain close to zero although expectations for a December rate hike have risen to 50% as they see recent misses as temporary. We continue to believe the US FED will maintain a “dovish tightening” approach, with only one more rate hikes this year, favouring negative real interest rates to support growth.
The expected supply constriction from Hurricane Irma has prompted outflows from crude ETPs of US$15m and inflows of US$19m in to Energy ETPs which have broader exposure to gasoline. Hurricane Katrina prompted a constriction on gasoline supply and a short-lived bounce of gasoline prices due to refiners production outages. Recent improved sentiment for oil prices has likely been due to the IEA forecasts released last week showing an upward revision to it oil demand expectations for 2017 based on the weaker US dollar. Alleged improved compliance to the OPEC production freeze has also increased price.
Industrial metals saw continued outflows of US$118m last week and has now seen outflows of US$272m over the last month. Industrial metals from the beginning of September were up 35% for the year and 22% year-to-date. Since then they have begun to sell off due to what we believe is profit-taking. Given the long lead times in exploration and development of mines, even though capital expenditure may soon start to increase, we expect supplies to remain tight and the market is unlikely to achieve balance in the short term. However, there are threats to the current rally as strong momentum could give way to a pull-back in prices. Historically periods in which trading volumes in China have risen sharply have been followed by a correction. These pull-backs are usually an opportunity to shake out momentum trades and allow the market to focus on fundamentals rather than a sustained downturn.
Agriculture ETPs attracted US$25m of inflows last week and inflows now total US$248m year-to-date, representing the best inflows of all commodity subsectors. Despite news from North Dakota and Russia that wheat harvest yields have been high investors have been buying wheat and other agricultural commodity ETPs on what we believe is a combination of price weakness and news that the probabilities of a La Niña is rising according to NOAA forecasts.
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Your reference guide to commodity markets. Includes the latest outlook for each commodity sector and major developments for individual commodities.
The surprise Trump presidential victory had a resounding impact on global markets leading to a wide divergence in the performance of precious and industrial metals. Mr Trump’s policy on infrastructure spending boosted industrial metal prices and we continue to see optimism in futures market positioning. While the ‘risk-on’ sentiment in the wake of Trump’s victory coupled with his more hawkish stance on monetary policy weighed on precious metals. Market expectations for a December rate hike have spiked to 90% pushing up the greenback. Given that the December rate hike is largely priced in, we expect rising inflation and uncertainty surrounding a swathe of European elections to boost gold’s appeal as a safety hedge. Furthermore, we remain unconvinced in the Fed’s ability to keep up with rising inflation which should lead to low/negative real rates. Further policy mistakes will only enhance the popularity of gold in a negative real rate environment.
Energy prices have come under significant pressure this past month as OPEC’s ability to broker a supply cut seems to be fading. Ahead of the OPEC meeting on 30 November, many oil producing countries have increased their oil production, pointing to an uncertain outcome. Meanwhile agricultural prices are likely to come under pressure as a La Niña weather pattern is expected to emerge. As we head in to 2017, uncertainty surrounding the global political landscape and a move towards more populist leaders in the developed world will continue to be a key driver of financial market volatility.
La Niña back in the picture. A La Niña weather pattern is expected to emerge which will provide cooler temperatures during the Southern Hemisphere summer and reduce heat damage for Arabica coffee and corn. Current rains have produced a good flowering of coffee bushes in Brazil, setting up for a good crop this year.
Prices to correct before industrial metals recover. As there haven’t been any fundamental changes over the past month, a surge of optimism from investors and following the US election may explain the recent price rally within industrial metals. We believe this rally is overdone and see an upcoming correction. We are however more positive on the longer run as the complex is on track to end 2016 in deficit for the first time in 10 years.
Energy prices to remain volatile. Oil prices fell close to 15% last month as optimism about OPEC’s ability to broker a supply cut is fading. A flurry of meetings between both OPEC and non-OPEC countries have taken place, but have so far produced little positive results. Growing scepticism about OPEC’s ability to cut production has led to short positions rising 56% in WTI and 39% in the past month.
Stronger dollar and negative sentiment trump precious metals. Gold’s price suffered the sharpest decline as markets switched to ’risk-on’ mode following Trump’s surprise presidential victory. While we expect the trajectory of gold’s price to remain volatile, we view the current dip as a buying opportunity. Robust global car sales figures coupled with tighter emission standards adds scope for further upside for Palladium as its supply deficit continues to next year.
For those of you following the contrarian model we have the following signals;
BUY Ticker
BRENT
OILB
BRNT
OSB1 (1yr)
OSB2 (2yr)
OSB3 (yep you guessed it, it’s the 3year contract)
PBRT (GBP Hedged)
00XT (EUR Hedged)
LBRT (2x Leverage)
3CRL (if you want 3x leverage, note this is WTI) Cocoa
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ETF Securities Commodity Research Short sugar and coffee
Highlights
Speculative positioning in both sugar and coffee appear over-extended.
Brazil’s sugar production has risen and a healthy monsoon in India paves the way for a partial recovery in cane production.
The abolition of the sugar production quota in Europe next October will weigh on global prices.
Brazilian Arabica coffee output hit an all-time high in 2016, but prices rose as a result of Brazilian Real appreciation.
With La Niña potentially back on the cards and weather in Brazil remaining favourable, the next season’s Arabica crop may surprise on the upside.
Sugar rally to run out of steam
Sugar has gained over 80% since February 2016 as the market is expected to have entered a second consecutive year of a production deficit. Prices are now trading at a 5-year high.
(Click to enlarge)
The futures market has become very bullish. Net long positioning in the futures market hit an all-time high a few weeks ago and remains more than 2 standard deviations above its 5-year historic average.
We believe that this optimism is overdone. Sugar production in Brazil, which produces close to 25% of global output, is running close to 20% higher than last year. While there is some fear that the season could be cut short, we believe that higher prices will encourage mills to continue production. Indeed, the cane harvest, which is close to 70% complete, is also running 10% ahead of last year. Moreover, with sugar prices this high and weakness in oil prices, more cane could be diverted to sugar production over ethanol production.
(Click to enlarge)
India, the second largest producer of sugar, has received normal levels of rain this monsoon in contrast to the previous year’s failed monsoon. Reservoir levels have filled to around 75% as of October 20th, which is exactly in line with the 10-year average for this time of the year (and 128% of the corresponding period last year). Reservoir levels in the key cane producing areas was even higher. With most cane in India being irrigated, availability of reservoir water will be important for the following season.
EU to scrap sugar beet production quota
The EU is set to abolish its sugar beet production quota in October 2017. While the ICE Sugar No. 11 futures contract is based on the delivery of raw cane sugar, the greater availability of a close substitute could impact its price. Although the EU will eliminate quotas on production of sugar beet, it is not set to change tariffs on the import of raw cane sugar. Refiners in the EU are therefore more likely to use domestic beet for sugar production. While this is more of a concern for next year, prices of raw cane sugar could begin to weaken in advance.
Arabica price rises despite Brazilian production increase
Arabica coffee prices have risen close to 40% since January and speculative positioning is over 1 standard deviation above historic average.
Brazil dominates Arabica coffee production and has a significant influence on the price of the commodity.
(Click to enlarge)
2016 Arabica coffee output from Brazil was the highest on record despite the fears that El Niño would hamper production. The Arabica harvest in Brazil was largely complete in September.
(Click to enlarge)
As the chart above indicates, coffee output in Brazil goes through biennial cycles: production rises in one year and falls in the next. The 2016 coffee crop in Brazil was a high year in the biennial cycle and 2017 will be a low year. Some of the recent price gains may reflect that we are about to enter a cyclical low year, but we caution that the pattern does not always hold (for example between 2012 and 2013).
We believe that more of the gains were driven by an appreciating Brazilian Real. The Real appreciated on the back of an impeachment of the Brazilian President. Barring any positive economic shock, we believe that most of the positive news for the Real is priced-in.
(Click to enlarge)
Potential for favourable weather
Weather conditions may have turned favourable for production in Brazil. Currently rain is progressing well in the south east of Brazil (where close to 90% of its Arabica is grown). That is important during the critical ‘flowering’ process. The amount of flowering determines how much coffee cherries will develop on each coffee bush.
(Click to enlarge)
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This communication has been issued and approved for the purpose of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (“ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”).
The information contained in this communication is for your general information only and is neither an offer for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. This communication should not be used as the basis for any investment decision.
Historical performance is not an indication of future performance and any investments may go down in value. This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares or securities in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.
This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. Although ETFS UK endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the content in this communication, ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee its accuracy or correctness. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data. Where ETFS UK has expressed its own opinions related to product or market activity, these views may change. Neither ETFS UK, nor any affiliate, nor any of their respective officers, directors, partners, or employees accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication or its contents.
ETFS UK is required by the FCA to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.
Your reference guide to commodity markets. Includes the latest outlook for each commodity sector and major developments for individual commodities.
Despite the lower probability of a La Nina weather pattern developing this year, the overhang of record stock levels and higher production forecasts are weighing on prices.
Fundamentals to sustain a recovery in industrial metals in Q4 or Q1 2017.
Oil continues to remain volatile, but will trade within a range of US$40/bbl to US$55/bbl.
Precious Metals likely to remain volatile amid key central bank meetings.
The base effects from the commodity rout in late 2015 only begins rolling out of the headline inflation data in late 2016 but should leave US inflation close to 1.7% by year end, up from 0.8% now. This coupled with rising wages is likely to pressure the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in December, with a rhetoric prior to that of increasing hawkishness. Following a strong run in commodities (since the February trough) of 22%, weaker growth expectations from China and forecasts for policy tightening in the US have driven a selloff, with commodities declining 6% since late June. We have continued to see inflows into safe-haven assets, particularly gold, reflecting a wide range of concerns that can be categorised into five main categories:
uncertainty from the Fed and
the ECB over policy action,
Middle-East instability,
negative interest rates surpassing that of gold’s cost of carry and
the broad rise of political populism in the developed world.
We believe that the rise of populist parties, elected or not, is a powerful catalyst for reform, with incumbent parties scrambling to counter the populist wave by implementing similar policies. We expect economic stimulus to shift solely from monetary policy to include fiscal policy with the end result being a rise in infrastructure spend and social initiatives to combat inequality, prompting wider government deficits and higher inflation. Despite the broad set of fears pervading the market at present we are continuing to see improving growth figures from the developing markets where delivered economic data is broadly beating expectations. We believe the emerging markets are much better positioned to weather the prospects of a stronger USD now than they were 3 years ago.
Despite the lower probability of a La Nina weather pattern developing this year, the overhang of record stock levels and higher production forecasts are weighing on agricultural commodity prices. Coffee, sugar, corn and soybean oil were the only commodities to post positive returns among the agriculture commodity complex.
Fundamentals to sustain a recovery in industrial metals in Q4 or Q1 2017. Declining production combined with rising consumption resulted in a global supply deficit in each industrial metal in Q2. The commodity sector may end 2016 in a deficit for the second time since 2005. We believe copper is the best positioned to benefit from the recovery.
Oil continues to remain volatile, but will trade within a range of US$40/bbl to US$55/bbl. Speculation as to whether OPEC will freeze production after its informal meeting later this month has been a source of that volatility. However, we believe that focus on an OPEC freeze is misplaced and cuts to non-OPEC production will push the market into balance.
Precious metals declined 2.1% last month as expectations of a US rate hike this year increased and the ECB failed to signal any further loosening of policy. We believe demand for gold and silver is likely remain volatile in the second half of the year amid a number of decisive central bank meetings and the US presidential election.
For those of you following the contrarian model we have the following signals;
ETF Securities Research team ETF Securities (UK) Limited T +44 (0) 207 448 4336 E info@etfsecurities.com
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