Matthieu Favas

4.8bn people. Less than 50 days of crude stocks in India, SK and Singapore. Weeks of LNG in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Same for jet fuel in Oz/Nz. The Iran war is causing an Asian energy emergency economist.com/finance-and-ec…

A third of the world's seaborne oil passes through a strait 33 miles wide. War in Iran is fast making it unnavigable. Markets reopen tonight economist.com/finance-and-ec…

America's bet on critical minerals assumes Western subsidies can outlast Chinese patience. China has been executing this playbook for 40 years. Washington has been at it for months. Will it work? Our cover story this week economist.com/briefing/2026/…

Russia is dangling a $12 trillion prize in front of America. I ran the numbers. Putin’s offer is a trap economist.com/finance-and-ec…

Last week the EU pledged to stop buying Russian gas by 2027. But there is one commodity from the bellicose giant next door it remains hooked on: plant food economist.com/europe/2025/12…

The Trump administration has just blacklisted Russia’s two largest oil firms. Global prices have lept; some big Indian and Chinese refiners say they will stop importing. Are these new sanctions really the all-out strike they appear? My quick take economist.com/finance-and-ec…

Here's why economist.com/finance-and-ec…

Three years ago, a food calamity loomed. Russia’s war in Ukraine pitted two big grain exporters against each other; prices surged. As the war rages on, Ukraine's wheat exports are set to shrink by 25-30% this season. And yet prices are nearing five-year lows.

Commodity markets look simple. When the supply of a material shrinks, prices go up. When supply expands, they go down. The problem is that supply shocks never quite live up to the initial excitement. For a recent example, take a look at lithium economist.com/finance-and-ec…

Thrilled to say that I have been named Journalist of the Year by the @Wincottfound, for my coverage of Iran's sanction-busting, Russia's new economic friends and China's secret commodity stockpiles. Huge thanks to my colleagues and editors wincott.co.uk/matthieu-favas…

In the trade war between the US and China, most of the focus has been on the tariff tit for tat. But China has another weapon to hurt America: restrictions on rare-earth exports. That is a weapon it is starting to deploy. How much damage could it cause? economist.com/finance-and-ec…

Markets are sliding. Oil and gas are tanking. Other commodities are down. So this week I wrote about a niche material that's holding up better than most. Tin is the one critical metal no one's talking about economist.com/finance-and-ec…

What if America lifts sanctions on Russia but Europe does not? Access to US tech, currency and payment networks, some say, is what Russia really wants. But the old continent has its own weapons. Ignored and threatened, it may be tempted to use them economist.com/finance-and-ec…

Faced with Trump's bullying, Europe wants to avoid escalation. Its retaliatory tariffs are measured. The bloc still hopes that the worst instincts of the American president and his coterie can be moderated. But what if they can't? economist.com/briefing/2025/…

Three months after Syria’s 14-year civil war ended, and as Ramadan begins, euphoria is being replaced by anger at the continuing atrophying of the economy. There is a way to change this economist.com/briefing/2025/…

As Trump starts talks with Russia on ending war in Ukraine, European gas prices are cooling. They are now 17% down from their peak of Feb 10th. How likely is it that Europe starts piping gas from Russia again? economist.com/finance-and-ec…

MUFG, a bank, estimates that a 25% tariff will push up the cost of a tonne of steel imported into America from $755 to over $900, negating a cost advantage that America currently enjoys over Europe. Donald Trump's metals wars will corrode the economy economist.com/finance-and-ec…

The Arctic’s first ice-free day may occur before 2030. For many this is a tragedy. But some smell a huge economic opportunity economist.com/finance-and-ec…

After ignoring Iran's clandestine oil trade for most of his tenure, Biden is finally turning the screws. The result: Iran's oil exports are down by a quarter in 3 months. Now Trump promises maximum pressure... How will Iran - and oil prices - respond? economist.com/finance-and-ec…

For the first time since 2022, it looks like Ukraine is winning the economic war against Russia. But it faces strong headwinds: the uptick of war, the downtick of domestic resources... and Donald Trump economist.com/finance-and-ec… Great to collaborate with @olliecarroll