Commodities Trounce Stocks, Bonds on Oil, Soy Revival

Commodities are beating stocks and bonds for the first time in nine months, and the quarterly rebound is likely to continue on China's increasing imports of raw materials. Oil, gold, soybeans and sugar for delivery at the end of the year on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Boards of Trade in Chicago and New York show at least a 3.7 percent appreciation, beyond the 5.7 percent gain in the UBS Bloomberg CMCI index of 28 commodities through March.
``When we look at the supply and demand'' of most commodities, there's a lot ``to be very bullish about,'' said Larry Kantor, co-head of research in New York at Barclays Capital Inc., which told customers last week to buy tin, gold and corn. China has ``a voracious demand for raw materials.'' Imports of copper jumped 12 percent in February from a month earlier and were almost triple the level of a year ago, according to the Customs General Administration in Beijing. Crude oil purchases rose by 8 percent in the month and palm oil by 20 percent, the administration reported. Copper rallied 8.4 percent in the quarter to $6,860 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, crude oil advanced 7.9 percent to $65.87 a barrel in New York and palm oil gained 3.5 percent to 2,064 ringgit ($597) a ton on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange.