Monthly commodity prices update for February 2026

In the February 2026 update, PricePedia's monthly European commodity prices recorded an overall increase of +2.3% compared to the previous month.
The rise was driven almost entirely by energy raw materials, which posted a +6.8% month-on-month increase.
At the root of this dynamic is the escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran, as described in the article Commodity markets under pressure amid geopolitical risks and trade uncertainties, culminating over the weekend in a joint military operation by the United States and Israel against Iran and in Tehran's subsequent response.

The escalation has fuelled strong concerns in energy markets: the suspension of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil transits, has intensified supply fears, despite OPEC's decision to increase production starting next April.
On Monday, March 2, Brent crude repeatedly exceeded 80 dollars per barrel, compared to around 73 dollars at the close of the previous week. On the same day, the European natural gas price also climbed to 45 euros per MWh, reflecting the climate of uncertainty and the strategic role of Qatar (among the countries affected by Iranian reprisals) in global LNG supplies.

The chart below shows the price trends, in euros, of raw materials in the European market for the main PricePedia aggregates: Commodity^[1], Industrial^[2], Energy and Food, with January 2022 = 100 as the base for each index.

In February, commodity prices were marked by differentiated dynamics. While the upward phase of energy commodities continued, other price trends moved in different directions, with food raw materials recording average declines of -5.6% month-on-month and industrial commodities continuing to post positive but still limited changes (+0.8%).
The weak momentum is also widespread across product categories, with the only exceptions being Wood and Paper (+1.8%), Non-Ferrous Metals and Textile Fibres (+1.4% month-on-month for both).

Industrial raw material prices in February 2026

The weakness of industrial commodities becomes even more evident when looking at the year-on-year dynamics of European quotations. Current levels are, in fact, 3% lower than the average values recorded in February last year.

The chart below shows the year-on-year changes for February 2026 in euro-denominated prices for the product groups belonging to the core industrial segment.

The chart confirms what was observed in the previous update: excluding non-ferrous metals, all product groups within the core industrial segment show price levels below those of the same month in the previous year, confirming the difficulties currently affecting European manufacturing and, consequently, commodity demand.