Corn and silver prices dropped the most in 2013 when 19 of the 32 widely-traded commodities in the world ended in the red.
Corn (maize) prices dropped 40 per cent, while silver slipped by 33 per cent.
Currently, corn is ruling at $4.23 a bushel or about Rs 10,350 a tonne on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Silver fell 34 per cent to $19.49 an ounce or Rs 39,000 a kg on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Wheat (31 per cent), gold (26.57 per cent) and coffee are other commodities which lost over 20 per in value.
Natural gas gained the most (26.57 per cent) among commodities whose prices increased, followed by cocoa which gained 24.45 per cent.
indian scenario The situation reflected in the Indian market but the drop was far less.
For example, corn prices dropped six per cent and wheat by a little over five per cent.
Currently, corn is quoted at Rs 1,420 a quintal against Rs 1,510 at the start of the year and wheat at Rs 1,573 a quintal compared with Rs 1,660.50.
Gold, which fell for the first time since 2000 and quoted at $1,197 ounce (Rs 24,000 for 10 gm) in the global market, has dropped to Rs 29,200 in Mumbai from Rs 30,645.
The drop has been less compared to global prices since gold enjoys a premium of over Rs 2,000 in the domestic market due to curbs on imports.
bad year “The year 2013 has typically been bad for commodities with money managers and hedge funds pulling out in great numbers,” said Suresh Nair, Executive Director (Commodities and Forex), Admisi Commodities Pvt Ltd.
According to Barclays, outflows from commodity-linked funds have been to the tune of $88 billion (Rs 5.44 lakh crore) at least until December 15.“There has been a drop in demand for commodities such as gold from traditional sources such as India and China.
In India, the importcurbs to check current account deficit arising out of trade imbalance have discouraged gold investments,” he said.
sluggish outlook Commodities such as coffee and soyabean too, have not performed well, Nair said.
Soyabean prices have dropped over six per cent.
The fall began after the second half of this year on projections of a record crop in the US and hopes of better crop in South America.
The situation could continue to be bearish in the New Year since the economy is yet to recover fully.
“The economy at the macro-level needs to improve. So, commodities market will be sluggish in the first quarter,” said an economist, who did not wish to be identified.
chinese data Next year, the market could improve, mainly on reports of industrial rebound in China.
“Copper and aluminium could be the ones that could gain,” said Nair.
Aluminium dropped 13 per cent and copper six per cent this year on slack demand.
Besides, platinum which is heading towards short-supply, will also gain, the economist said.