Rising Fuel Prices Are Impacting Logistics, Commodity Prices
Oil prices were volatile again last week, topping off at about $100 a barrel, and now there’s another new wrinkle that has traders and analysts scratching their heads: futures contracts for light, sweet crude and Brent crude differ by nearly $20 –an unprecedented gap for these contracts, which typically trade within $1 of each other.
Naturally, as consumers, we’re all feeling the pinch of rising gas prices every time we fill up at the pump.
But, what about the ripple effect of $100/barrel gasoline? How much do rising gas prices—and the tremendous volatility in the oil markets –affect everything else we buy?
As Michael Koploy rightly points out at his recent blog post, Gas Stats: How Rising Fuel Prices Affect Logistics, soaring energy prices impact other commodities, such as minerals, food, and consumer goods –even though this effect doesn’t typically get the press it deserves.
Koploy illustrates the direct correlation between the rise in energy prices and the (sometimes dramatic) increases in commodity prices with this infographic, revealing the trickle-down effect of rising gas prices, January 2010 vs. January 2011: (more…)
