Commodities Surpass All Other Assets as Global Hard Asset Complex Reprices

Commodities and hard assets have emerged as the best-performing asset class of 2026, according to Lars Hansen, Head of Research at The Gold & Silver Club. This is a broad-based repricing driven by inflation, scarcity, geopolitical fragmentation, and resurgent physical demand.

The rally is led by energy commodities, with European Natural Gas surging 204%, Heating Oil up 149%, and Diesel increasing 136%. Brent Crude Oil has advanced 82% from its 2026 low. Agriculture is also being repriced, with Cocoa roughly doubling, Rice gaining 66%, Wheat increasing 45%, and Sugar rising 35%.

Tin, Zinc, and Copper have rallied approximately 28-32% from their 2026 lows, while Aluminium is about 14% above its trough. The significance lies in the number of strategically important commodities rising together, including those that power economies, feed populations, and underpin global industry.

Hansen emphasizes that this is not a narrow commodity rally but a broad-based repricing of scarcity across the global hard asset complex. The energy sector stands out due to geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions, with the Bab el-Mandeb Strait facing growing disruption risk and Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline shut following recent attacks.

The Metals complex reinforces the same message, with Copper at or near all-time highs in many currencies amid tight supply and surging electrification demand. The AI revolution is adding a structural layer of demand on top of an already strained supply picture, making Copper, Tin, and Aluminium strategic assets in a world being rebuilt around power, electrification, and industrial resilience.