Commodities prices are surging. World white sugar prices reached record levels on Aug. 10, largely because of booming demand in India where the government has lifted a ban on imports.

The huge run-up in commodity prices between January and mid-March has been a welcome boost for listed producers in the falling Aussie equities market. Oil, sugar, coal, gold, wheat… all these things have gained voraciously. Australian companies drilling, harvesting and mining them have weathered the storm of equity-selling better than other stocks.