(Bloomberg) — Grains traders will be watching Tuesday for the latest insights from the US Department of Agriculture’s monthly supply-and-demand estimates. The world’s top gold miners kick off their quarterly earnings season, starting Wednesday with Barrick Gold Corp. And oil’s drop since US President Donald Trump took office carries historical significance.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Here are five notable charts to consider in global commodity markets as the week gets underway.
Oil
Oil has fallen 8.8% since Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration as his positions on everything from tariffs to war in the Middle East weigh on sentiment. That marks the steepest three-week decline for West Texas Intermediate futures since October, just before Trump won the US election on a campaign that included calls for fossil-fuel producers to “drill, baby, drill” to boost American output. It also marks the biggest drop for the first three weeks of a US president’s term since Bill Clinton’s reelection in 1997, when oil plunged nearly 12%, according to Bloomberg calculations.
Gold
The three biggest gold miners are preparing to report fourth-quarter earnings, covering a period when the precious metal hit repeated record highs. Shares of Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. — the third-biggest producer — have been outperforming its bigger rivals thanks to better-than-expected output and lower costs. Agnico reports Thursday, followed by top-producer Newmont Corp. Feb. 20. Investors will be paying close attention to company outlooks on production and costs, most notably those of Barrick and Newmont after a disappointing third quarter.
Grains
In its WASDE report on Tuesday, the USDA is expected to trim its outlook for how much corn there will be in silos by the end of the current marketing year. Meanwhile, Brazil looks to be on track for another record soybean harvest, with analysts anticipating an increase in the USDA production estimate.
LNG
Trading houses and some of the world’s biggest energy companies stand to gain from the retaliatory tariffs China is imposing on liquefied natural gas from the US. Beijing’s 15% levies open the opportunity for traders and oil supermajors to resell US cargoes on behalf of Chinese buyers in exchange for gas from other regions, pocketing a fee for the service. China, which bought about 6% of US LNG exports last year, imposed the duties after Trump announced tariffs on goods from Beijing. The Chinese levies are scheduled to go into effect Monday.
