Interesting notes11 Mar 2025 22:25
It’s a stark contrast how commodity prices have increased 25% while sector heavyweights have fallen in the same period.
“Within the commodity space, the key performers during the year were the gold and silver prices which enjoyed strong returns, up by 27.2% and 21.5%, respectively. Yet the gold mining companies were unable to convert this into meaningful returns. Copper, a key exposure within the Company, was up approximately 8% when looking at year-on-year average price levels.
As highlighted above, the huge frustration during the year has been a breakdown in the relationship between commodity prices and the share prices of the companies that produce them. Historically, mining equities have been a very efficient way to capture returns from commodity markets.
However large mining companies simply did not perform as they have historically. In the copper sector the “go to” company, Freeport-McMoRan, generated a -9.4% total return during the year whilst the average price of copper was up by approximately 8%. Across the gold sector, the two largest producers, Newmont Corporation and Barrick Gold, generated -7.9% and -12.3% returns respectively, compared to the average gold price which was up by 23.0%. Examples like this can be found across the mining sector.”