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Energy procurement and price risk management is an increasingly vital function for energy intensive companies, from airlines and cement manufacturers to supermarket retailers. Roderick Bruce investigates the challenges facing such companies in Europe and beyond

Increased volatility and price uncertainty in global energy markets have been good news for investors looking to profit from speculation, but for energy intensive companies, a new era of heightened risk is underway. Wildly fluctuating wholesale prices have hit the aluminium, steel and manufacturing industries hard, with some companies, such as UK glassmaker Arc International, being plunged into bankruptcy by a failure to hedge their energy price risk.

The trend is global, but the heavily