Finance & economics | Buttonwood

Investing in commodities has become nightmarishly difficult

What happened to that “supercycle”?

Illustration of an electrical symbol with people walking in opposite directions off it
Illustration: Satoshi Kambayashi

Only a few years ago, analysts and investors were aflutter with talk of a new “supercycle” in commodities. Some believed the world was about to repeat a surge in raw-material prices that began in the early 2000s, and lasted until the global financial crisis of 2007-09. This time the prompt was meant to be a mixture of a fast economic recovery, as the West emerged from covid-19 lockdowns, combined with a shift to green energy.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Green haze”

From the February 17th 2024 edition

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