Pis eroding on gold irrelevant? As war broke out in Ukraine, filling the atmosphere, it seems pointless to mention the precious metal. And yet! Investors are betting on the stainless safe haven. The imminence of the conflict did not make a crease; the reaction was immediate: a warning shot on the ounce of gold. Its price jumped to 1,974 dollars (1,760 euros), Thursday, February 24 in the morning, its highest since September 2020. It then slightly melted, while the Russian troops of Vladimir Putin, they, swooped down on Ukraine.
Investors weigh their interests with a trebuchet. They measure the consequences of this invasion, the impact of the sanctions pronounced by Europe and the United States against Moscow, as well as the evolution of American monetary policy, with a rise in rates expected in March. Gold comes out with a price cut around 1,900 dollars an ounce. Close to the historic level of 2,000 dollars, a threshold pulverized in August 2020, in the midst of the economic crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Strong acceleration
So, no record for gold. Unlike wheat, whose golden grains were torn off on Thursday. At midday, on the Euronext European market, a tonne of this cereal was trading at an unprecedented price (344 euros per tonne), before closing at 316 euros. On Friday, Kiev was on the alert. But, on the markets, the tension dropped a notch. Enough to drive down the price of wheat, even if it remains very high.
The same goes for rapeseed, which, after a strong acceleration, took a step back. The fear of a break in the flow of sunflower oil, of which Ukraine alone controls more than half of the world volume, made the markets dizzy. The oils have heated up. That of palm, which has become hot, has also set a record, crossing 6,000 ringgits (1,274 euros) per ton on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, in Malaysia.
Wheat, corn, rapeseed, sunflower: so many shades of yellow in agricultural landscapes. Will this sunny color palette turn into a golden cake? This is a reality for French cereal farmers, who have returned to serenity. They should be smiling in the aisles of the Agricultural Show, which opened its doors on Saturday, Porte de Versailles, in Paris. The only downside: the cost of fertilizers, penalized by soaring gas prices. The breeders, for their part, look gloomy. Feed the animals with golden grain left over them through the throat.