Keystone
In addition to oil and gas, almost all metals have become considerably more expensive in recent months. According to calculations by the Bavarian Business Association (VBW), commodity prices on the global markets have almost reached their 2021 record high again.
“The Iran war is also fueling this development,” said Bertram Brossardt, Managing Director of the association in Munich. “Hardly any sector remains unaffected by the price increases.”
According to the report, precious metals recorded the largest price increase in the first quarter with a rise of over 34% – even though gold and silver became cheaper again in the course of March. Rare earths followed in second place with a price increase of 29.3%. According to VBW, this was mainly due to export controls imposed by the Chinese government, which controls the majority of the global market for rare earths.
Industrial metals increased in price by 14.3 percent. Strikingly, lithium became more than 80 percent more expensive, tungsten even more than 130 percent. The former is needed for electric car batteries, among other things, and the latter for AI chips and weapons, according to Brossardt.