The World Bank is forecasting higher prices for industrial commodities, principally energy and metals, in 2017 and next year.
The World Bank in its April Commodity Markets Outlook is holding steady its crude oil price forecast for this year at $55 per barrel, increasing to an average of $60 per barrel in 2018. Rising oil prices, supported by production cutbacks by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC states, will allow markets to gradually rebalance, the report said. These oil price forecasts are subject to downside risks should the rebound in the US shale oil industry be greater than expected.
Prices for energy commodities, which also include natural gas and coal, are projected to jump 26 percent this year and eight percent in 2018. In line with oil price forecasts, natural gas is anticipated to gain 15 percent this year, led by a jump in US prices. Coal is seen climbing six percent in 2017, due to earlier supply restrictions in China, which consumes half the world’s coal output.
