Thoughts on the Twists and Turns of the Virus’ Impact on Commodities

The pandemic of 2020 had a major influence on almost every facet of life as the COVID-19 virus wound its way around the world. Commodity markets were impacted as well, yet not in any unifying pattern. Every commodity was influenced differently. In this research, the author looks back at how four selected commodities performed – oil, copper, soybeans, and gold – in 2020, and tries to detangle the influence of the virus from everything else that was happening. It is a conflicted picture, which illustrates the many feedback loops and dynamic aspects of complex systems.