Even before the global stock market tumble yesterday, prices for the majority of commodities fell
in February. According to the World Bank, the steepest fall was in energy prices with a drop
13% in February, driven by the 20% decline in natural gas in Europe and 13% in crude oil 13%.

Prices excluding energy fell by nearly 4% following the drop in all sub-indices except fertilizers. The costs
agriculture fell 2.8%, led by a 3.6% drop in food, followed by beverages and
raw materials, down nearly 1.5% each. On the other hand, fertilizers increased by
2.5%. However, some products are on the rise. This is the case for sugar (+4.45%), cocoa (+4.35%), oil
peanuts (+1.61%) and bananas (+1.06). On the downside, cotton lost 3.16%, Robusta coffee 3.52%,
rubber (RSS3) 4.21%, Arabica coffee 4.70%, soybeans 8.59%, palm oil 10.03% and coconut oil
1(.90%).
Metal prices fell 6%, after declines in most components: zinc (-10.2%), ore
iron (-8.4%), nickel (-5.9%) and copper (-5.7%). In contrast, precious metals prices rose nearly
2%, mainly due to a 2.3% increase in gold.