Economic Trade Snapshot No. 06: Brent at USD 109.9 — two realities for CEMAC
HIG’s review for the week ended 16 October 2026: Brent, currencies and commodity prices, and their implications for CEMAC importers and exporters.
Opening document…
Economic Trade Snapshot No. 06 reviews exchange-rate and commodity-price movements for the week ended 16 October 2026, with a focus on their implications for CEMAC trade.
Brent: one price, two realities for CEMAC
Brent crude closed the week at USD 109.9 per barrel, up 4.97% on the week and 79.3% year on year. For CEMAC oil exporters, this means stronger export receipts. For importers, it means higher fuel and freight costs.
Currencies and import costs
The XAF strengthened against the US dollar, the Chinese yuan and the UAE dirham, as the euro to which it is pegged edged higher: USD/XAF fell 0.16%, CNY/XAF 0.08% and AED/XAF 0.16%. GBP/XAF rose 0.54%.
Over twelve months, the yuan gained 10.7% against the XAF, compared with 3.9% for the dollar, raising the relative cost of Chinese imports into the zone.
Commodity movements
- Arabica coffee rebounded 6.75% over the week.
- Rice rose 2.24% and was up 49.1% year on year, weighing on the import bill of rice-importing CEMAC economies.
- Palm oil gained 1.85%.
- Wheat fell for a fifth consecutive week, easing grain import costs.
- Henry Hub natural gas declined 3.28%.
Exchange rates and raw material prices shape trade balances, import costs and export revenues across the region.
Read the newsletter
These figures reproduce HIG’s published commentary for the reference period; they are not live market prices. The original six-page newsletter, including charts covering the last twelve months, is available in the LinkedIn publication.