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Only one commodity has escaped the total collapse in prices

Ben Moshinsky   

Only one commodity has escaped the total collapse in prices
Finance2 min read

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Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

An anti-nuclear protester lifts up a symbolic nuclear waste barrel near the German Reichtstag on October 25, 2010 in Berlin, Germany.

Of all the commodities, only uranium has shown real growth over the last 12 months, according to a Macquarie analyst note.

The price of uranium, used as fuel in nuclear power plants, increased 28% in the past 12 months.

Pretty much everything else, apart from alumina, has collapsed thanks to shrinking demand.

"Suddenly the energy companies and the miners are on the other side of the boom, with plentiful supply but uncertain demand from China, the world's largest commodities consumer," S&P corporate economist Gareth Williams recently explained to the Financial Times' Sarah Gordon.

This is what Macquarie had to say: "Unequivocally, the last twelve months has seen one of the biggest commodity sell-offs outside a global economic recession in history."

Things are so bad the prices are "more like those you'd normally associate with a major economic crisis."

Here's what the bloodbath in commodities looks like:

Uranium vs others

Macquarie

And it looks set to get worse.

"In many markets, given demand doesn't look set to grow into existing capacity, we need to see permanent supply cuts (either via decisions or bankruptcies). Until this happens in the appropriate volumes, commodity prices can continue to grind lower," said Macquarie.

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