Asia Risk 15: Commodity derivatives grow dramatically but Asia still not setting prices

Asia is now the largest buyer of raw materials and its companies face significant hedging challenges to manage price volatility. But the fragmented nature of the region’s economies has hampered the exertion of meaningful influence in global commodity derivatives markets. Wietske Blees reports

There is no denying the importance of physical commodities in Asia. According to World Bank figures, Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) nearly quadrupled between 2000 and 2008, growing from $1.12 trillion to $4.33 trillion. By 2008, the value added by the industrial sector accounted for 49% of GDP, providing some measure of the size of China’s demand for commodities. The global financial crisis has done little to hamper this development, with Chinese GDP growing by 8.7% in 2009 and projected