RBC commodity price index rises again in May – RBC Economics

Joseph Allegritti, Research Associate at RBC Economics notes that the RBC commodity price index rose 5.8% in May adding to the April and March advances of 4.3% and 10.3% respectively.

Key Quotes

“This is the third consecutive monthly gain for the index marking a strong start to 2016, up 14% year-to-date since December 2015. The energy products sub-index was most responsible for the monthly gains in May, up 12.1% driven by continued advance in crude oil prices in the month (+15%). The index excluding energy products showed only a slight 0.6% increase in May, supported by a strong monthly gain in forest products (+4%). The overall index remains well below its year ago level down 12.5% with 3 of 5 sub-indices remaining lower relative to May 2015.”