The El Niño-driven bull markets in cocoa and sugar
Two bull markets in soft commodities have been in cocoa and sugar brought on by a variety of summer weather problems from India to Thailand and West Africa.
My cocoa Spider, featured in my WeatherWealth newsletter for about 8 commodities each week, has been basically bullish cocoa since summer. Sometimes it has gone neutral, but overall, we have developed long-term bullish call option spread ideas for summer.
Wet November weather could further compromise cocoa and sugar crops
This time of the year, dry weather is needed for the sugarcane harvest in Thailand (the #3 producer) and in the Ivory Coast and Ghana (top cocoa producers) where the incessant wet weather has caused disease issues all year.
Usually, El Niño can bring wet weather for Thailand in November but typically it dries out in West Africa for the remaining main crop harvest. One such El Niño year that was super wet in Thailand was 1987. The fact that West Africa has remained wet is atypical of El Niño and more so due to warming oceans and Climate Change.
Wet weather in Thailand during November can negatively impact the sugar crop for a few key reasons:
Flooding – Heavy November rains in Thailand bring a higher risk of flooding, which damages sugarcane fields and disrupts harvesting.
Cloud cover – Increased cloud cover and reduced sunlight slows sugarcane growth during this critical time before the harvest. Photosynthesis is diminished.
Disease – Wet conditions promote fungal diseases like red rot, which damages stems and leads to sugar content loss.
Delayed harvest – Excess soil moisture makes it harder to operate harvesting equipment on muddy fields. This can delay crop collection.
Diluted sucrose – High rainfall right before harvest dilutes the sucrose concentration in stalks, reducing sugar content.
Crop loss – Severe floods from monsoons can completely submerge and destroy portions of the sugarcane crop.
Overall, wetter than normal November weather reduces both the quantity and quality of sugarcane yields in Thailand. Dry conditions are needed for optimal sucrose development and timely harvest. Excessive rain has a very detrimental impact on both yields and sugar content for the Thai sugar industry in the critical pre-harvest period.
While adequate rainfall is crucial for cocoa production in Ivory Coast and Ghana, excessive wet weather over months can cause major issues:
Prolonged heavy rains increase the prevalence of fungal diseases like black pod rot and myriads. These have caused severe damage to cocoa crops recently in very wet conditions.
Overly wet soil makes bean harvesting and drying more difficult. This can delay and disrupt cocoa harvest operations.
Persistent moisture also promotes canker and algal bark diseases which damage cocoa tree health and yields.
Flooding from heavy rainfall can rot the roots, asphyxiate trees, and reduce yields.
So while November rains are important for cocoa pod development, too much rainfall over consecutive months promotes crop diseases, hampers harvest logistics, and reduces bean quality.
This video (click above) talks about the Amazon rain forest, the teleconnections that will influence November weather, and how heavy rains and flooding in parts of central and southern Brazil are impacting soybean planting, and the sugar cane harvest but benefitting coffee trees.
A cold late October and possibly November will be the rule for parts of the Midwest and Eastern U.S. This is because El Niño is weak-moderate (not a strong El Niño event), and a negative GLAAM is present.
The video above discusses Global Atmospheric Angular Momentum (GLAAM) and how that can influence El Niño and winter weather.
A cold late fall and early winter could keep natural gas prices firm on breaks if (GLAAM) remains negative and El Niño does not strengthen.
However, it remains to be seen if there will be a longer-term bull market in natural gas, for which inventories are still large. The recent rally in prices was due to pre-winter hedge fund buying, war tensions overseas, and lower rig counts,
If GLAAM remains negative and El Niño is weaker
The globe had yet another record-warm year and the Arctic and oceans are warming at a record pace. This could offset what would otherwise be a consistent severely cold northern Hemispheric winter. But if global angular momentum (GLAAM) remains negative, this could offset Climate Change a bit.
If GLAAM becomes positive and El Niño strengthens
In contrast, strong El Niño events are often accompanied by positive GLAAM and warm winters. If this occurs, a bear market in natural gas prices will occur.
I will be developing various natural gas futures, options, and ETF strategies for subscribers, shortly.
January snow cover with negative and positive GLAAM
By mid-winter, negative GLAAM winters typically have above-normal snowfall in the Northeast and parts of Europe and Asia (bottom image).
Negative GLAAM usually refers to La Niña, but there are weak to moderate El Niño events that can occur and be quite snowy.
In contrast, the winters with the strongest +GLAAM (top image) and El Niño have below-normal snowfall in the eastern U.S. and would be bad news for ski resorts and bearish implications for natural gas and heating oil spreads. However, winter has not started yet and a lot can happen.
Negative GLAAM winters often are snowy in parts of the eastern U.S., Europe, and Asia.
El Niño weather conditions can have varying impacts on different commodity sectors. Here are some of the sectors typically most adversely affected during El Niño years:
Agriculture – El Niño often brings heavy rains and flooding to parts of South America, which can damage crops like soybeans, corn, wheat, rice, coffee and sugarcane. Food production and crop yields tend to decline in affected regions.
Energy – El Niño winters tend to be warmer than average in the US, decreasing demand for heating oil and natural gas. Milder winters can also reduce electricity demand. This drop in energy demand can negatively impact the oil, natural gas and power sectors.
Metals & Mining – Heavy rains from El Niño can disrupt mining operations for commodities like coal, copper, iron ore and gold in countries like Indonesia, Chile, Peru and Australia. This can constrain output and drive prices higher.
Palm Oil – Production of palm oil in Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia, tends to fall during El Niño events due to reduced rainfall and drought conditions. Supply disruptions can lead to higher prices.
Fishmeal – El Niño conditions often drive anchovy populations away from the coast of Peru, resulting in reduced catches of this fish that is processed into fishmeal and fish oil. This can impact the global supply of fishmeal for animal feed.
Presently, this is what I have been watching for my WeatherWealth newsletter clients with various futures, ETFs and option trade ideas. Climate change is also having a major global effect.
A) Weak Indian Monsoon for oilseeds, sugar, wheat, oilseeds, rice, and possibly cotton
B) Australia’s and Argentina’s developing drought for wheat
C) China’s historical heat waves and mixed floods and droughts may have damaged some of the corn and especially cotton crops.
D)Record warm oceans creating too much rain for the West African cocoa crop where disease issues have helped prices rally 10% more in the last 2 months.
E) Wet September weather in northern Brazil could cause some harvest delays or sucrose dilution to the sugar crop and cause an early bloom for coffee that is not wanted
India’s August rainfall may be the lowest since 1901
El Niño often disrupts the Indian Monsoon. The monsoon is very important to India’s economy and has a $3 trillion annual effect on agriculture. Presently, it is the driest since 1901 and I do not see that trend changing, following excellent July rains. This will have a “lag” effect on markets such as soybean oil, sugar, rice, wheat, and possibly cotton and be one partially bullish factor in these markets.
HELPING YOU MAKE THE BEST INVESTMENT DECISIONS BASED ON THE WEATHER
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