Commodity markets

An environmental concern

Structured product providers are rushing to create environment-themed investments, with notes linked to biofuels, clean energy and the water industry emerging over the past few months. John Ferry reports

Nymex to offer soft commodities

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has entered the soft commodity space with the launch of six new futures contracts on its ClearPort clearing and trading platform.

Lessons learnt

This year was one of unprecedented volatility for energy markets, yet it also marked a step-change in market maturity. Energy Risk asked some key players what they see as the defining events of 2006 and how they will affect behaviour in 2007. By Stella…

Urge to merge

The landscape for US commodity exchanges is undergoing considerable change, with many heavyweight names announcing mergers or new co-operations. David Watkins looks at what this will mean for energy trading

Food for fuel

In part II of our investigation into the attraction of 'cleantech' investment, Catherine Lacoursière looks at the growth of biofuel plants, and asks: does the world have enough feedstock to power them?

A feast of futures

Associated British Foods is significantly exposed to commodity price fluctuations. Anna Gordon-Walker asks the company's finance team how it manages these diverse risks

Future imperfect

Hedging physical deals with derivatives may be active risk management, but if the physical contract is breached, it can result in unnecessary losses. Andrew Meads looks at whether the innocent party can recover these losses

CME, CBOT to merge

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is to merge with the Chicago Board of Trade in a move the exchanges say is “expected to transform global derivatives markets.”