With the war in Ukraine, 2022 turned out to be a highly volatile year in the commodities market. 2023 has started off somewhat calmer, and many of last year’s major price increases have been partially reversed. In this context, which group of commodities do you think performed the best in the first quarter of 2023?

ANSWER

Agricultural. Based on the S&P GSCI, S&P’s investable commodities index, the S&P GSCI Softs TR subgroup—which includes commodities such as cotton, coffee, and cocoa—has posted a return of 11.39% from the beginning of the year through April 3. It is followed by the S&P GSCI Precious Metals TR, which posted a gain of 8.04%, driven primarily by the performance of the gold price. The worst-performing index was the S&P GSCI Natural Gas TR, which fell by 52.46%.