Publications /
Policy Paper

Back
Tensions conjoncturelles ou aube d’un nouveau super- cycle : la dynamique du prix des matières premières en question
Authors
October 7, 2021

Face à la très forte augmentation du prix des matières premières observée depuis le printemps 2020, l’idée qu’un nouveau super-cycle soit en gestation s’est progressivement diffusée. Si les tensions qui s’observent à court terme sur les métaux de la transition environnementale (cuivre, nickel, étain, palladium) devraient, il est vrai, perdurer à moyen et long termes, l’affirmation selon laquelle leurs prix sont amenés à croître structurellement doit probablement être nuancée. Les effets de report sur les métaux de base de la décarbonation des économies sont certes indéniables, tandis que les énergies renouvelables ne peuvent que croître, mais la réalité précise du « power mix » ne se dessine qu’avec lenteur. Si le cuivre apparait comme le métal incontournable de la révolution verte, identifier avec précision les matières premières qui seront les « grandes gagnantes » du monde de demain demeure, encore aujourd’hui, une gageure tant les évolutions technologiques continuent de façonner l’amont et l’aval des filières de matières premières. Le recyclage devrait, en outre, jouer un rôle majeur dans l’offre d’un certain nombre de métaux et, dans une dynamique endogène, contribuer à apaiser les tensions sur les prix issues d’une demande structurellement croissante. Le rôle que la Chine pourrait jouer à long terme dans « l’ordonnancement » des marchés mondiaux de matières premières doit enfin être questionné.

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    Tharcisse Guedegbe
    September 27, 2019
    This paper is about the basic principles which should guide fertilizer policy for smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa It is not about detailed country-specific prescriptions on the “how” of policy. This important task should constitute the substance of detailed country studies. The overarching goal here is to use fertilizer to spearhead and sustain an African Green Revolution (GR). In this paper, fertilizer use is not considered as an end in itself, but as a necessary mean ...
  • Authors
    August 23, 2019
    “O! WRETCHED MORTALS, OPEN YOUR EYES” Leonardo da Vinci, creator of the ever beautiful and impenetrable Mona Lisa, noted 500 years ago that he realized the importance of water, which is, the artist jotted in his notebooks , “the driving force of all nature”, the vetturale di natura, the vehicle of nature. Da Vinci was not only acclaimed by kings and wealthy nobility like the Florentine Medici’s for his paintings , but the genius, possibly one of the greatest minds and creative pow ...
  • Authors
    Christos Daoulas
    August 22, 2019
    This note approaches the relationship between natural wealth and economic growth, using the case of Sub-Sahara African economies as an illustration. Delving into recent World Bank reports, it highlights how a sustained positive correlation between natural capital and GDP growth happens through the transformation of the former into other forms of assets: produced capital, human capital and other intangible assets. Governance features and the quality of macroeconomic policies are of t ...
  • Authors
    August 16, 2019
    Earlier this month, the World Resources Institute based in Washington D.C. revealed that 17 countries, home to one-quarter of the world's population, are facing extremely high water stress. Below is an international press review of the global water crisis by Helmut Sorge, former Foreign editor, and Middle East expert for Germany's leading newsmagazine "Der Spiegel", and columnist at the Policy Center for the New South.    “A QUARTER OF THE WORLD IS FACING A LOOMING WATER CRISIS” “ ...
  • Authors
    Raphaël Chiappini
    June 22, 2019
    Empirical models of international commodity trade ows tend to show that exchange rate volatility has either no or negative impact on export volumes. This analysis has a number of limitations. In particular, it underestimates the role of physical traders and, consequently, the importance of future markets. In this context, this article aims to provide the theoretical underpinnings to demonstrate that these traders play a very particular role and that they have an influence on the rea ...
  • Authors
    Raphaël Chiappini
    Paul Raymond
    June 12, 2019
    Has the integration of European, North American and Asian natural gas markets been fostered over the last few years by growing LNG export capacities and an increasing market share of spot transactions? This is the key question that this article sets out to answer. For this purpose, we develop bivariate error correction models with structural breaks and asymmetric responses among gas references prices, oil prices, and coal prices. We use daily prices of all reference prices spanning ...
  • Authors
    Holger Hoff
    Sajed Aqel Alrahaife
    Rana El Hajj
    Kerstin Lohr
    Nadim Farajalla
    Kerstin Fritzsche
    Guy Jobbins
    Gül Özerol
    Robert Schultz
    Anne Ulrich
    May 13, 2019
    Adopting an integrated approach to the management and governance of natural resources including land, water and energy is seen as an effective way to improve the sphere of production while respecting the environment. Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub, economist at the Policy Center for the New South, was invited by Stockholm Environment Institute, alongside other prestigious research centers with expertise in environmental studies, to co-author this research paper and share her analysis of th ...
  • Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    April 16, 2019
    Le rapport Arcadia a été présenté le 9 avril à Paris par le Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) et le Cercle CyclOpe. Ce document de référence fait chaque année le point sur la conjoncture des matières premières africaines. “Elles restent essentielles, avec une forte dépendance pour nombre de pays et une gestion de la rente relativement problématique”, a affirmé en introduction Philippe Chalmin, président du Cercle CyclOpe. Fortement exposées aux chocs extérieurs, les économies ...
  • Authors
    Sous la direction de
    Philippe Chalmin
    April 9, 2019
    Les cours des matières premières ont, une fois encore, été marqués par une importante volatilité en 2017 et 2018. Si de nombreux facteurs économiques permettent de l’expliquer, la raison politique fut également bien présente. Les Annual Report tensions commerciales entre la Chine et les États-Unis on Commodity et, plus globalement, la montée des incertitudes ont pesé Analytics and sur les perspectives macroéconomiques mondiales et sur Dynamics « le dynamisme des marchés ». Comptant ...
  • Authors
    Under the direction of
    Philippe Chalmin
    April 9, 2019
    Commodity prices were once again marked by significant volatility in 2017 and 2018. While there are many economic factors to explain this, politics were also present—trade tensions between China and the United States and, more generally, a rise in uncertainties—weighing upon the global macroeconomic outlook and the ‘dynamism of the markets’. Africa, which has countries with strong growth rates, has, however, been able to show solid economic performance, and this trajectory is not li ...