Commodity Trading Challenges, Opportunities in Commodity Markets
Worldwide we now see commodity trading activity taking place on a range of modern, regulated commodity exchanges. A broad range of commodities are traded between end user buyers and producer sellers within a framework of standard contract rules and commodity trading regulations. In effect world commodity exchanges make buying and selling of raw commodities ranging from crude oil, copper and wheat to platinum and orange juice much easier.
Consider that a few commodities like crude oil and coffee have been traded for a very long time in mature markets, but now we see early 21st century markets innovating with different types of futures contracts being introduced. Among these more colourful types of commodity are carbon in the form of emission permits. With the rising anxiety about the serious environmental damage from climate change caused by greenhouse gases, a fast growing market has mushroomed in emissions permits, a form of activity known as carbon trading.
Going forward we can expect to see more growth in commodity market products which place a price on the environment, for example, new products in carbon emissions, plastics, water and even the weather.In fundamental terms, commodity trading is buying and selling of futures contracts which represent commodities. In the market, you may see the zinc producer hedging his future sales from a price drop or perhaps a food manufacturer hedging his cocoa purchases from a sudden price spike caused by crop failure.
The main actors in the commodity markets are the speculators who trade futures contracts for profit and their activity brings liquidity, while commodity end users and producers play a smaller role. In essence a futures contract is allows a trader to sell or buy a specified quantity of a particular commodity at an agreed future date, where price is subject to the forces of supply and demand when they contract is made.
Global commodity markets now see traders increasingly active using electronic trading platforms which are open 24 hours as the traditional open outcry on exchange floors falls away in overall terms. We now see the volumes of electronic trading increasing and many exchanges have merged to consolidate their platforms and achieve synergy.
The wider availability of real time trading data and online trading software packages means that the opportunities to engage in commodity trading have reached the small retail speculator, who trades smaller amounts and now has virtually global access to the internet. While some traders look to the fundamentals of demand and supply of basic commodities in specific sectors, a growing number prefer to follow the price action of exciting trades, relying on technical analysis irrespective of the commodity in question.
The emerging economies of Brazil, China, India and Russia (or BRIC) continue to expand over the long term and so expansion in regional commodity markets is to be expected going forward. Just look for example at Dalian commodity Exchange in China which has plans to move beyond its core strength of agricultural commodities towards metals and other areas. And look at Dubai in the Gulf, an area with a fast growing financial centre where a wide range of commodities including steel, plastics, WTI light, sweet crude oil, Indian Rupee, silver and gold can be traded on the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange.
We can all see how the global credit crunch had such a profound effect on economic growth, with significant corrections in rates of growth and sharp falls in demand for commodities, as major economies and companies were seriously affected, but despite this commodities as an asset class are not seriously affected. Looking ahead to the future, as economic growth picks up there will be a resumption in demand for key commodities like crude oil, aluminium, copper, iron ore and demand for softs like sugar and wheat will be buoyant with competing food and biodiesel demands. Going forward, the outlook for commodity trading will be positive and as an activity it will again be at the centre of world finance.
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