Futures markets, speculation and the destabilisation of commodity sectors: a comprehensive analysis

Given the recent attempts at reforming financial excesses, the issue of commodities trading is without a doubt one of the most essential and most sensitive. As opposed to arguments aiming to prove the subordination of commodity financial markets to speculative interests, we show that these markets can be helpful not only to deal with the price risk but also to promote the dissemination of available information and serve as a tool for inventory management. However, speculation is an absolute prerequisite for their existence. Basing our work on existing literature, we suggest that although it may have a destabilising effect, speculation does not produce all the harmful effects that are sometimes alleged. In particular, it cannot alone explain the sharp rise in the price of commodities observed from 2006 onwards.