For commodity producers and traders the world over, Asian demand is the big driver. But the region’s exchange-based commodity markets are still surprisingly fragmented and underdeveloped. As Colin Packham reports, there are two vast markets, closed to the outside world; some small, more internationally focused exchanges – and a new generation of start-ups hoping to break in. Can they get established before the big players become too dominant?
In global commodity trading, Asia is where it’s at. Not that all the trading activity has migrated to Asia – far from it. Chicago, New York and London are still big hubs for agricultural goods, precious and base metals and oil and gas products.
But the Asian countries have taken a decisive lead as importers and consumers of commodities – as measured by their growth, if not yet total consumption. Longer term, that will happen too. Asia has 60% of the world’s...