(Bloomberg) -- Fish are on the menu as the World Trade Organization holds its 13th ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi this week. Elsewhere, jet fuel demand in the US is picking up just in time for a busy travel season, while oil’s February advance is on the cusp of evaporating. A slew of energy industry conferences take place in London, including International Energy Week.

Here are four notable charts and one map to consider in global commodity markets as the week gets underway.

 

Jet Fuel

Spring break should be a busy one for airlines, according to one indicator. The four-week rolling average for US jet fuel demand is at the highest seasonal level since the Covid-19 pandemic caused air travel to collapse in 2020, according to Energy Information Administration data. At the same time, jet fuel prices are tracking lower. A similar trend is seen around the world. Global jet fuel demand is expected to grow about 6% this year as international travel continues to recover, refiner Phillips 66 forecasts.

 

Food Security, Trade and Climate

On the agenda as WTO ministers meet is an effort to ratify the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies that was adopted at a June 2022 gathering. Last week, Haiti became the 61st WTO member to formally accept the pact. The accord sets new binding multilateral rules to curb harmful subsidies (including for fuel) that are a key factor in the widespread depletion of the world’s fish stocks and have implications for food security and the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Two-thirds of the 164 WTO members need to sign the agreement before it can be ratified. Other topics up for discussion include agriculture, trade and sustainable development, and e-commerce moratoriums.

 

Base Metals

Base metals have suffered since hitting a record high in March 2022, but the tide may be turning, according to one technical indicator. The LMEX Index — a gauge for the six main metals traded on the London Metal Exchange — has rallied almost 4% since hitting a 2024 low earlier this month. That has put a so-called golden cross into view, a bullish signal where the 50-day moving average climbs above its 200-day counterpart. Of course, the last time the pattern appeared just over a year ago, the advance proved short-lived.

 

Oil

A rally at the start of the month is slipping away amid competing themes for crude oil markets. While bullish tailwinds of rising Middle East tensions and lower OPEC+ output helped push futures higher, concerns over flagging consumption in top importer China have offset the gains. West Texas Intermediate futures are up less than 1% in February, while Brent saw its monthly advance erase on Friday. For the year, both benchmarks are trading in a tight $10-a-barrel range, causing some traders in exchange-traded funds tracking oil to pull their cash. Futures were little changed on Monday.

 

Precious Metals

While gold has attracted much of the attention in precious metals circles amid its record rally, silver has been slumbering away in a tight range this year. At almost $23 an ounce, it’s more than halfway below its peak reached in 1980 and trading beneath two key moving averages (after forming a bearish death cross technical pattern earlier this month). Change could be on the horizon: Hedge funds flipped to net bullish from bearish, according to the latest US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.

--With assistance from Brendan Murray.

(Updates with Monday oil trading in sixth paragraph.)

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