Chinese think tank predicts modest rise in global commodity prices

BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese think tank has predicted a modest rise in global commodity prices in 2018, given an acceleration of global economic growth and OPEC oil production cuts.

The average Reuters/Jefferies CRB index is expected to be around 194 in 2018, up 5 percent over the average in 2017, according to a report released by the Center for Forecasting Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Thursday.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures price in 2018 is expected to reach an average of 60 U.S. dollars per barrel, up 18 percent from that of 2017.

The report predicted that the London Metal Exchange (LME) copper futures price in 2018 will rise to an average of 6,900 U.S. dollars per tonne.