Cement. The stuff of dreary, dystopian cityscapes as well as the key ingredient in any self-respecting gangland thriller. “Will that be white Portland or a nice Pozzolana mix in your boots, sir?”
It’s also been the stuff of futures markets, being long on promise and hype but short on action.
On paper it’s a no-brainer. With annual production of over 2bn tonnes, cement is one of the world’s most significant commodities, and its price is volatile, buffeted by production capacity and the strength of demand from the building industry. Although you can stockpile against price hikes, you nevertheless have the makings of an accompanying derivatives market.
Radio silence
That appeared to be the thinking when the Moscow Stock Exchange in November 2007 announced that the following spring it would launch cement futures. The reason? A building boom and the Winter Olympics of 2014, in Russia, were stoking...