• Record electricity prices halt Nordic factories

Highlight from Swedbank's Energy & Commodities, No 1/2011:

"Commodity prices accelerated during the second half of 2010. By December Swedbank’s Total Commodity Price Index had risen by slightly over 20% compared with six months earlier. Energy and food posted the biggest gains. Stronger global demand and tighter supply conditions in several commodity markets are having a growing impact. In the euro zone, the increase in commodity prices was even higher due to the weaker euro.

"We expect commodity prices to continue to rise in 2011, though at a weaker pace, partly because last year’s huge inventory build-up is being reduced and China’s expansion is slowing. A continuation of the Fed’s and ECB’s expansive monetary policies will keep liquidity in the financial markets high, however, which in turn will keep investors interested in commodity-related investments. At the same time too fast a price increase could threaten the economic recovery and add to inflation pressures in many countries.