Silver stood out on Friday with a run up to new 31 year highs.
The worries about tensions in the Middle East sent it, gold and oil higher, while coffee prices also hit a series of new highs as well.
Silver futures climbed to their highest level in about 31 years Friday, rising nearly 8% over the week as the spillover in demand from gold accelerated.
Gold prices finished the week higher as investors sought safety because of the intensifying violent crack down on demonstrators in Bahrain and Libya.
Reports that Egypt has agreed to allow the passage of Iranian naval ships through the Suez Canal for the first time in years didn’t help sentiment either.
Comex March silver futures jumped 73c to close at $US32.296 an ounce on Friday, up 7.8% from the close the previous Friday, and according to Reuters and other agencies, the highest for 31 years.
Silver futures are trading at levels not seen since March 1980.
Gold rose, returning to the area above $US1,390 an ounce on Friday, having its best weekly performance since December.
Gold initially eased on Friday after China said it was raising lenders’ reserve requirements by 50 basis points but jumped on more reports of violence in the Middle East and a rise in the cost of Portuguese government debt.
Comex April gold closed up $US3.50 at $US1,388.60 an ounce in New York after earlier touching a low of $US1,382.
Futures prices added 2.1% for the week, the best since the start of January.
Spot gold prices rose 0.3% to $US1,386.75 after earlier, hitting a five-week high of $US1,391.75.
March copper was fractionally lower to close at $US4.482 a pound for the session, down 1.2% for the week.
US oil prices rose 0.7% and London traded Brent crude added 1% to end a two-week losing streak by close of dealings on Friday night.
For the week, however, US oil futures snapped a two-week losing streak to advance 0.7%, and London-traded Brent crude gained more than 1%.
Nymex WTI for March delivery ended Friday’s session down 16c, or 0.2%, at $US86.20 a barrel.
The March contract oil expires Tuesday, after US financial markets reopen following Monday’s President’s Day holiday.
Nymex April oil, the more actively traded contract, rose 87c, or 1%, to $US89.71 a barrel, also up 0.7% for the week.
In London April Brent crude-oil futures lost 7c to $US102.52 a barrel.
That saw its premium to New York’s WTI contract fall to $US12.81 a barrel, down from more than $US16 a week earlier.
Coffee prices hit a 14-year high this week, and it’s only a matter of time before prices start rising in stores and coffee shops around the world.
Coffee prices closed at $US2.70.60 a pound on Friday in New York for Arabica coffee.
That’s the highest price since May 1997 when coffee was trading at $3.20 per pound.
Coffee harvests in Brazil, Mexico, Kenya and Colombia have been weak or less than expected.
In fact Colombia, one of the leading coffee producers, has suffered its third consecutive "disappointing" crop, which is one of the biggest factors in driving up prices.
The Financial Times reported on the weekend that "A closer look at the market reveals that current prices are not only the highest since 1997, but also that coffee has not traded at its current level for more than a week since the price jump of 1975-77, which was triggered by a frost that destroyed Brazil’s crop".
"The industry is split about what lies behind the rally. Some roasters believe that speculative funds have taken prices well above what the fundamentals of supply and demand warrant. But other consumers – and the majority of traders and coffee brokers – say that supply shortages are leading the price increase.
"Colombia has suffered a string of bad crops, in part due to heavy rains. Output plunged last year to a 33-year low of 7.8m 60kg bags, down by nearly a third from 11.1m bags in 2008.
"The problems in Colombia were well known, but traders have recently been wrong footed by low supplies from Brazil, the largest producer of Arabica coffee. Traditionally, prices in New York trade at premium to the local BM&FBovespa futures market in São Paulo. But recently Brazilian prices have surged above those of New York, a clear sign that the country’s crop is not nearly as large – and probably of lower quality – than previously thought.
"Meanwhile, stocks at producing countries – the traditional cushion in a tight market – are at their lowest level since the International Coffee Organisation started tracking the statistics in the early 1960s," the FT said.
