Best Metals and Commodities of 2016

Iron ore and zinc were the top performing commodities of the past year. Iron ore ended the year with 81% growth, the first calendar win in four years. At the same time, zinc jumped 65.7% YoY as major zinc mines were closed and supplies and supplies of this raw material declined.

Here's how base metals rose during 2016:


Iron ore: Q1 (37.0%), Q2 (-6.2%), Q3 (6.3%), Q4 (31.1%), per year (81.0%);
zinc in Q1 (20.0%), Q2 (13.1%), Q3 (-3.2%), Q4 (26.1%), for the year (65.7%);
nickel Q1 (-3.1%), Q2 (13.9%), Q3 (11.9%), Q4 (-5.0%), for the year (17.3%);
aluminum Q1 (3.8%), Q2 (7.2%), Q3 (1.4%), Q4 (4.0%), per year (17.3%);
copper Q1 (0.1%), Q2 (3.9%), Q3 (-0.5%), Q4 (13.1%), for the year (17.1%);

In addition to base metals, the biggest winners for 2016 were oil and gas. It has been an altogether volatile year, but it appears that the worst period of the decline in energy prices is over.

Oil and gas production also showed strong growth in 2016:

gas Q1 (-17.0%), Q2 (53.3%), Q3 (-2.7%), Q4 (28.0%), per year (58.5%);
Oil (Brent) Q1 (0.6%), Q2 (35.1%), Q3 (-1.2%), Q4 (13.6%), for the year (52.4%);
Oil (WTI) Q1 (-3.2%), Q2 (37.3%), Q3 (-2.1%), Q4 (11.4%), per year (44.9%) ;