5 Temporal Features for Commodity Price Prediction

Want to predict commodity prices more accurately? Time-based patterns hold the key. From seasonal shifts to economic report schedules, understanding temporal features can significantly improve your forecasting. Here’s what you need to know:

Seasonal Price Changes: Commodity prices vary predictably across seasons (e.g., WTI crude oil rises in summer, falls in winter).
Long-Term Price Cycles: Decades-long cycles and global demand shifts now account for 50% of price variability.
Trading Calendar Events: Futures expirations, holidays, and economic calendars create unique price fluctuations.
Daily Trading Hours Impact: Liquidity and volatility change throughout the day, with peaks at market open and close.
Economic Report Schedules: Reports like USDA crop updates and EIA inventories drive immediate market reactions.

Quick Tip: Use tools like OilpriceAPI to combine real-time data with these temporal insights for better predictions. Let’s dive deeper into how these features shape commodity markets.

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1. Seasonal Price Changes

Commodity prices often shift throughout the year due to predictable supply and demand patterns, which vary by type. Below, we explore how these trends play out in energy and agricultural markets.

Energy Commodities
Crude oil and natural gas prices are heavily influenced by seasonal weather trends in the Northern Hemisphere. Historical data for WTI crude oil (1986-2018) highlights clear seasonal patterns :

Season	WTI Crude Oil Price Trend
Winter (Dec 1 - Feb 28)	Lowest prices of the year
Spring (Mar 1 - May 31)	Gradual price increases
Summer (Jun 1 - Aug 31)	Strong upward trend, reaching the top 25% of the annual range
Fall (Sep 1 - Nov 30)	Prices peak, then start to decline

For example, heating oil prices in the U.S. are expected to hit $3.44 per gallon during the winter of 2024/25, reflecting the impact of seasonal demand .

Agricultural Commodities
Seasonal price patterns are particularly pronounced in agricultural markets, driven by the timing of harvests. A study of soybean futures (2010-2023) found that pre-harvest sales in May consistently outperformed October harvest sales by $1.15 per bushel .

"Seasonality is a huge aspect of grain marketing and should inform all grain marketing decisions. As basic economics suggests, prices decline when supply is high, and in the United States, supply peaks at harvest." - Grant Gardner, Assistant Extension Professor

Trading Strategies
Traders can capitalize on these seasonal trends by applying the following approaches:

Monitor Storage Levels: Natural gas storage typically peaks in late October or mid-November and hits its lowest point by the end of winter .
Track Weather Patterns: Sudden weather changes can intensify seasonal price shifts, especially in energy and agricultural markets .
Time Market Entry: Sell before seasonal demand wanes and buy ahead of anticipated price increases .

Understanding these patterns can help traders make more informed decisions and optimize their market strategies.

2. Long-Term Price Cycles

Long-term price cycles, often spanning years or even decades, play a key role in predicting commodity prices. Since the mid-1990s, these cycles have shown a noticeable alignment across various commodities.

The Role of Global Factors
The impact of global economic factors on commodity prices has grown significantly over time:

Time Period	Contribution of Global Factors to Price Variability
1970–2021	15–25% (Energy & Metals)
Post‑1996	30–40% (Industrial Commodities)
Current Era	50% (Global Demand Shocks)

These global trends often lead to sudden market disruptions that can shift established patterns.

Market Disruptions
While long-term cycles provide a framework, unexpected shocks can drastically shift trends. For example, world food commodity prices climbed nearly 40% in the two years leading up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In March 2022 alone, wheat prices spiked by 38% compared to the previous month .

Key Indicators for Prediction
Incorporating these cycles into forecasting models requires focusing on critical indicators. Analysts examine economic trends, relationships between commodities, and the effects of global shocks. Since 1996, global demand shocks have accounted for 50% of price variability, while supply shocks have contributed 20% .

For agricultural futures, tools like USDA crop reports offer valuable insights. Additionally, real-time monitoring platforms such as OilpriceAPI help track long-term trends. Combining historical data with real-time analysis allows traders to anticipate price shifts more effectively and adjust their strategies as needed.

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3. Trading Calendar Events

Trading calendar events play a key role in shaping commodity price movements. These include specific dates and market happenings that can influence trading patterns, much like seasonal trends or long-term cycles.

Futures Contract Expiration Impact
Futures contracts typically expire on the third Friday of the month, creating distinct market conditions. As expiration nears, liquidity often drops, volatility goes up, and futures prices tend to align with spot prices .

Market Holiday Effects
Before major market holidays, trading volumes often surge as institutions adjust their positions. This can lead to temporary price shifts. Additionally, the broader economic calendar, with its scheduled data releases, can further impact price movements.

Economic Calendar Integration
Commodity prices are highly reactive to scheduled economic reports. For example, crude oil traders pay close attention to the weekly inventory reports from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). These reports, released every Wednesday at 10:30 AM Eastern Time, often create significant price swings in energy markets . Events like these highlight the need for careful planning.

Strategic Trading Considerations
Traders should time their rollovers to avoid periods of low liquidity and aim to execute trades when market activity is at its peak . For example, a corn farmer expecting a September harvest might hedge against price drops by selling futures contracts set to expire in October .

Using real-time data tools, such as OilpriceAPI, can help traders quickly adapt to changing market conditions during these critical periods.

4. Daily Trading Hours Impact

The timing of daily trading plays a crucial role in shaping commodity prices and improving prediction models.

The busiest periods are at market open and the last 30 minutes of trading. These times see higher liquidity, better price discovery, and reduced slippage - factors that are essential for refining prediction models. Outside of these peak hours, market behavior is influenced by session-specific trends.

Futures markets operate almost nonstop from Sunday evening through Friday afternoon. For example, NYMEX trading starts at 6:00 PM ET on Sunday and runs until 5:00 PM ET on Friday. This near-continuous trading creates distinctive price patterns tied to specific sessions.

Weekly patterns also impact volatility. For instance, oil prices historically rise on 62.85% of Mondays and fall on 62.52% of Fridays . These trends highlight how volatility varies across different days, influencing trading strategies.

Gold and crude oil prices often react to major trading sessions, such as the London open, U.S. pre-market hours, and the Wall Street opening bell. These reactions are especially pronounced during key economic announcements, like the Wednesday EIA Petroleum Status Report .

During overnight sessions, low liquidity leads to wider bid-ask spreads and higher volatility, creating opportunities for price retracements. Tools like OilpriceAPI help track these overnight movements.

Trading Session	Characteristics	Model Considerations
Market Open	High liquidity, increased volatility	Analyze opening price gaps
Regular Hours	Stable volume, primary price discovery	Focus on core prediction periods
Market Close	Peak liquidity, position adjustments	Consider end-of-day settlements
Overnight	Lower volume, wider spreads	Watch for retracement opportunities

5. Economic Report Schedules

Economic reports play a major role in shaping market sentiment and influencing commodity prices. They help analysts fine-tune predictions and manage market volatility. Just like seasonal trends and trading events, these reports are central to understanding market behavior and improving forecasting models.

Key indicators, such as U.S. employment data and USDA WASDE reports, often lead to noticeable price shifts across various commodity sectors.

During economic downturns, the impact of these reports becomes even more pronounced. For example, Chinese PMI Manufacturing data is widely regarded as a global economic benchmark, and its release can cause significant market adjustments.

Interestingly, there’s often a lag between commodity price movements and their ripple effects on the broader economy. Here's a breakdown:

Economic Indicator	Correlation with BCOM	Time Lag	Impact (R-Squared)
Personal Consumption Expenditures	0.67 to 0.78	4–5 months	61%
Nondurable Goods	0.76 to 0.85	2–3 months	72%
Energy Prices	Over 60% of index	Immediate	–

The energy sector, in particular, reacts quickly to scheduled reports. For instance, crude oil futures often see rapid adjustments following key announcements. Traders rely on real-time data tools to monitor and respond to these fast changes.

In agriculture, reports from the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) provide critical insights. Covering topics like livestock, dairy, poultry, oil crops, and wheat, these reports are essential for building accurate price forecasting models. Since commodity prices often reflect expectations, it’s crucial to consider not just the release dates of these reports but also the periods leading up to and following their publication.

Conclusion

Adding time-based elements to commodity price prediction models significantly enhances their accuracy. Studies reveal that deep learning models using temporal features consistently outperform older machine learning methods . This is especially true in sectors like energy, where price trends are heavily influenced by time-based patterns.

Advancements in technology have made it easier to use these features effectively. For instance, Temporal Convolutional Networks (TCN) have shown to reduce forecasting errors . This progress is a game-changer for traders and analysts who depend on precise forecasting tools.

Seasonal patterns also play a major role in commodity markets. Analyzing data from 2010 to 2019 confirms that accounting for seasonal trends can lead to measurable gains . This highlights the importance of integrating seasonal data into prediction models.

The influence of temporal features isn't limited to individual commodities. Incorporating multiple time-based indicators into forecasting models can improve accuracy across the board. Tools like OilpriceAPI now offer real-time and historical data, making it easier to build better models . Combining this data accessibility with advanced model designs further enhances prediction accuracy.

Using advanced bidirectional architectures is another way to improve forecasts . Whether it's seasonal trends, economic report schedules, or daily trading patterns, each temporal feature strengthens the reliability of predictions.

From seasonal shifts to long-term cycles and trading schedules, time-based features are essential for accurate commodity forecasting. By combining various temporal factors with strong data systems, analysts can achieve more dependable predictions.