Japan Disaster Strengthens Case for Commodities: Rogers
Oil prices have fallen sharply in the wake of the disaster in Japan as investors have shunned risk. Nymex has declined around 5 percent since last Friday's earthquake and tsunami.
However, Jim Rogers, Chairman of Rogers Holdings, who has been a long-term bull on oil , thinks it's only a matter of time before the current trend reverses.
"There's going to be a much bigger demand for oil from power plants because nuclear power plants are being shut around the world." he told CNBC on Wednesday. He said the resultant increase in demand for commodities would make him a buyer of oil."
"I'm not saying it's good for the world, not saying it's good for Japan, But there's always, as you know in Asia we talk about opportunities out of disasters, every disaster leads to some opportunities for some people who pay attention," he said.
Rogers said Japan's rebuilding effort would create new demand for other commodities. "Remember Japan has not been a big buyer of many construction materials because they haven't been building for twenty years. Now they are going to have to rebuild Japan. So the demand for copper and cement and steel and a lot of things are going to go up," he added.
Potential food shortages arising from disruptions to the food supply chain, would also be extremely good for agriculture, according to Rogers. Click here for full interview.
"This is going to cause a rundown of many stockpiles around the world, of many reserves - whether it's of oil or rice...this is going to cause the ultimate supply-demand for real stuff, for commodities, raw materials, to be even better than it was going into this. And there are going to be spectacular opportunities," he said.
