Oil, metals, grains prices all drop

Crude oil prices were down substantially Thursday on new inventories data from the US Energy Information Administration.

At just before the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, July contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude was down $4.27 from Wednesday’s close to $126.74 per barrel while at last report Brent crude had dropped $4.16 to $126.77 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Also near the close of trade in New York, Nymex June gasoline was down 2 cents to $3.43 per gallon while July heating oil had fallen 14 cents to $3.71 per gallon and July natural gas had dropped 46 cents to $11.54 per million British thermal units.

Crude oil stockpiles fell 8.8 million barrels to 311.6 million barrels in the week ending 23 May, sending prices higher until it was explained that the big decline was likely due to shipping problems along the US Gulf Coast due to foggy weather.

Gasoline inventories were also lower, falling 3.2 million barrels to 206.2 million barrels in the face of predictions that stockpiles would increase, but distillates in storage were up by 1.6 million barrels in the week to 109.4 million barrels, about twice the expected gain.

Precious metals prices were lower in afternoon trade in New York, with August gold down $24 lower to $881 per troy ounce while July silver fell 91 cents to $16.51 per troy ounce and July platinum dropped $73.90 to $1,993 per troy ounce.

Earlier, palladium had dropped $3.70 to $436.05 per troy ounce in mid-morning trade.

Base metals prices also declined, mostly on sharp increases in inventories.

Copper was down 14 cents to $3.56 per pound in New York while three-month copper fell $205 to $7,890 per tonne in London after London Metal Exchange stockpiles added 600 tonnes while lead inventories added 1,550 tonnes on the session.

Tin prices dropped by more than 10 percent, losing $2,600 on the session to $21,100 per tonne, while nickel was down by $300 to $22,200/$22,250 per tonne, zinc was $140 lower to $1,980 per tonne and aluminium dropped $80 to $2,880 per tonne in London.

Grains prices also fell, with corn on the Chicago Board of Trade down 12 cents to $5.80 per bushel as CBOT July wheat was 21 cents lower to $7.38 per bushel and CBOT July soybeans dropped 50 cents to $13.22 per bushel.

Wheat prices were down as the harvest of winter crops began in the US, with the US Department of Agriculture predicting that it will be the largest crop in ten years, up 17 percent from last year.

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