Goldman veteran Jeff Currie remains bullish on commodities this year

Demand for raw materials is at record levels, inventories are low, and spare production capacity is largely “exhausted,” the veteran analyst said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Copper, which drifted sideways for much of 2023, has the greatest scope for gains, he added.

Oil prices slumped 10% last year in their worst annual performance since the 2020 pandemic, as booming crude production in the US and elsewhere overwhelmed record consumption. Brent futures have had a shaky start to 2024, trading near $77 a barrel.

Crude traders are reluctant to take a strong view after suffering losses last year, but conditions should change, Currie predicts. The “immaculate disinflation” and production surge that weighed on oil markets in 2023 is unlikely to be repeated this year, he said.

Currie said his next career move will be related to the energy transition, but hasn’t yet been finalized. He left the Wall Street titan last August after an extensive career in which he cemented a reputation for bold and often bullish calls.

He rose to fame after correctly predicting the China-driven commodities boom of the 2000s and that decade’s surge in oil prices. Currie subsequently had less luck repeating the feat after outlining reasons in late-2020 for another supercycle that could last a decade.