Full coverage: Commodities

Recent days have seen major components of inflation – energy, grain and freight prices – fall back to the levels seen before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Yet market observers offer no guarantees that this will last.

Although inflation data and commodity markets point to less severe price hikes than initially feared, central banks are now on a tightening trajectory and equity markets are predicting a textbook recession.

Commodity prices are rising and they are going to continue to rise over the coming months. Forward-looking Western governments should secure whatever critical supplies they need sooner rather than later – in this situation, it is better to panic early than to panic when it is too late.

State-owned VTB Bank has spent the past seven years moving assets around Europe in the face of sanctions and Brexit. An investigation by The Currency reveals that its commodities business has landed in Ireland – at least on paper.