Commodity Crash Signals Disinflation Is Taking Hold for Now
- Cost of everything from metals to crops has plunged this year
- Economists see inflation slowing, but warn some prices sticky
From copper to wheat to natural gas, the cost of some of the world’s most important products is crashing, bringing long-awaited relief for consumers that were stung by last year’s soaring prices.
The commodity crunch unleashed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has taken a sharp reversal, with a Bloomberg gauge dropping more than 10% since the start of the year to the lowest since 2021. Driving the disinflationary trend are a world economy flirting with recession, Europe’s industrial slump and China’s weaker-than-expected emergence from Covid Zero policies.