Commodity Prices And Markets

Fluctuations of commodity prices, most notably of oil, capture considerable attention and have been tied to important economic effects. This book advances our understanding of the consequences of these fluctuations, providing both general analysis and a particular focus on the countries of the Pacific Rim.

Fluctuations of commodity prices, most notably of oil, capture considerable attention and have been tied to important economic effects, such as inflation and low rates of economic growth. Commodity Prices and Markets advances our understanding of the consequences of these fluctuations, providing both general analysis and a particular focus on the countries of the Pacific Rim. The volume addresses three distinct subjects: the difficulties in forecasting commodity prices, the effects of exogenous commodity price shocks on the domestic economy, and the relationship between price shocks and monetary policy. The ability to forecast commodity prices is difficult but of great importance to businesses and governments, and this volume will be invaluable to professionals and policy makers interested in the field.

This book provides a clear-eyed analysis of questions at the intersection of commodity markets, natural resource economics, and public policy.

The behaviour of commodity prices never ceases to marvel economists, financial analysts, industry experts, and policymakers. Unexpected swings in commodity prices used to occur infrequently but have now become a permanent feature of global commodity markets. This book is about modelling commodity price shocks. It is intended to provide insights into the theoretical, conceptual, and empirical modelling of the underlying causes of global commodity price shocks. Three main objectives motivated the writing of this book. First, to provide a variety of modelling frameworks for documenting the frequency and intensity of commodity price shocks. Second, to evaluate existing approaches used for forecasting large movements in future commodity prices. Third, to cover a wide range and aspects of global commodities including currencies, rare–hard–lustrous transition metals, agricultural commodities, energy, and health pandemics. Some attempts have already been made towards modelling commodity price shocks. However, most tend to narrowly focus on a subset of commodity markets, i.e., agricultural commodities market and/or the energy market. In this book, the author moves the needle forward by operationalizing different models, which allow researchers to identify the underlying causes and effects of commodity price shocks. Readers also learn about different commodity price forecasting models. The author presents the topics to readers assuming less prior or specialist knowledge. Thus, the book is accessible to industry analysts, researchers, undergraduate and graduate students in economics and financial economics, academic and professional economists, investors, and financial professionals working in different sectors of the commodity markets. Another advantage of the book’s approach is that readers are not only exposed to several innovative modelling techniques to add to their modelling toolbox but are also exposed to diverse empirical applications of the techniques presented.

Since a major source of income for many countries comes from exporting commodities, price discovery and information transmission between commodity futures markets are key issues for continued economic development. This book covers the fundamental theory of and derivatives pricing for major commodity markets as well as the interaction between commodity prices, the real economy, and other financial markets. After an extensive theoretical and practical introduction, the book is divided into four parts: Oil Products – considers the structural changes in the demand and supply for hedging services that are increasingly determining the price of oil Other Commodities – examines markets related to agricultural commodities, including natural gas, wine, soybeans, corn, gold, silver, copper, and other metals Commodity Prices and Financial Markets – investigates the contemporary aspects of the financialization of commodities, including stocks, bonds, futures, currency markets, index products, and exchange traded funds Electricity Markets – supplies an overview of the current and future modelling of electricity markets With contributions from well-known academics and practitioners, this volume includes coverage of the fundamental theory of futures/forwards and derivatives pricing for major commodity markets. The contributions to Sections I and II of this volume, which treat storable or agricultural commodities, take speculation into account through a consideration of markets over time being either in backwardation or contango. Up-to-date considerations of both trading and investment are included in Sections I, II, and III. The book also reviews the effects of urbanization and the expanding middle-class population on commodities.

Commodities have become an important component of many investors' portfolios and the focus of much political controversy over the past decade. This book utilizes structural models to provide a better understanding of how commodities' prices behave and what drives them. It exploits differences across commodities and examines a variety of predictions of the models to identify where they work and where they fail. The findings of the analysis are useful to scholars, traders and policy makers who want to better understand often puzzling - and extreme - movements in the prices of commodities from aluminium to oil to soybeans to zinc.

"This book gives a detailed monographic description of the main commodities: crude oil, natural gas, coal, uranium, iron, manganese, aluminum, chromium, nickel, cobalt, titanium, copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, platinum group metals, rare metals including molybdenum, tungsten and tin, industrial minerals, diamond and gems, food commodities and livestock. This book includes characteristics of the world's crude oil and natural gas network, information on crude oil, LNG, and coal ports and terminals, tanker and LNG fleet, new world pipeline projects, etc. Information on geopolitics and geoeconomy of commodities as well as comparative and correlation analysis of commodity prices are also given."--Pub. desc.

The price volatility of so many commodities over the past decade has underlined their economic importance and how dependent we are on them. The price of gold has soared to new peaks as currencies have endured a crisis of confidence; demand from China has pushed metal prices up; instability in the Middle East and North Africa has had its effect on the oil price; and food prices have been increasing in parallel with worries about whether there is enough to feed the world. Among the commodities it covers in details are: ·Aluminium, lead, nickel, tin, zinc, steel, iron ore, gold, silver and platinum; ·Oil, gas and coal; ·Wheat, maize (corn), sugar, soybeans, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tea, rice, wool and rubber. The guide looks at trends in the consumption and production of, and markets for, these goods. It looks at how prices have changed over the years and how they are likely to change in future. It analyses where the power lies in terms of producers (resource rich countries and mining firms) and market players (commodity exchanges and trading firms like Glencore). It highlights the vulnerabilities of different societies and industries to the vagaries of commodity markets. For anyone who wants a concise guide and comprehensive overview of the commodities business and its impact on the world, it is invaluable.