It's been less than a week since the big chiefs of the commodities world met at the FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, situated along the beautiful banks of Lake Geneva, yet already the markets have begun to adjust its collective expectations. So what's all the fuss about?

Quite simply, all of the commodity moguls, from Gunvor to Glencore to Vitol, all among the largest private companies in the business, have proffered one clear message and it is this: That they, nearly to a one, expect a healthy recovery in commodity prices. With all of the big shots expressing an upbeat view it becomes clear that they are acting on far more information than the rest of us, as one might surely expect, as being in the commodity business allows them ready access to more tangible and viable data. That nearly unanimous upbeat tone should be taken as a rather clear sign that we are about to see a bounce back in commodity prices. Surely, with currencies such as the Aussie, Kiwi, Loonie and the Norwegian Krone, and many more currencies beyond those, being highly sensitive to commodities prices, we are likely to see perhaps a significant impact in the FX arena.

Two Big Predictions

Although the talk at the Commodities Summit was on commodity prices, in general, it was evident that two sectors had drawn more attention than the others. Oil, naturally, because of its importance to the global economy but also Iron Ore, a key ingredient in the making of steel and one of the major commodities exported to China. Continue reading "Commodities Recovery: An FX Game Changer?" →