Asia Risk commodity rankings 2012

The past year has been characterised by bouts of volatility and subsequent range-trading as different parts of the commodity spectrum moved in differing ways. Some dealers have discovered new opportunities in the markets as their capital-constrained peers – in particular European banks facing capital stress back home – pulled back on their Asian commodities businesses

In the past 12 months, much of the volatility in markets such as oil that followed the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa through 2011 has subsided, and dealers report that for the last year many of the commodities sub-assets have been relatively range-bound. Gold and industrial metals both saw some big moves early in 2012, but have subsequently quietened, while coal stayed range-bound for much of the last 12 months but recently started to shift as a result of cheap gas