Category Archives: Commodity Management

The Smart Cube Risk Appetite Index – Laggards Take a Leap

This is the fifth installment of The Smart Cube’s monthly Risk Appetite Index (TSC RAI) blog series.     Something is stirring in the markets!  There are steady though cautious movements taking place. People have now started talking about the … Read More…

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Plummeting Polysilicon Prices: What Does it Mean for Solar?

Energy crisis has been the topic of discussion for many years now. Supply constraints, burgeoning demand, and the continuous surge in energy prices serve as constant reminders that the need to explore newer sources of energy should be more intent. … Read More…

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Change in the Middle East and North Africa: Implications for Business

The recent civil unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has, for obvious reasons, attracted significant attention globally. With countries across the globe still working to recover in the aftermath of the 2008–09 global economic crisis, the … Read More…

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Understanding the Recent Growth in Food Prices

The last year has seen an all too familiar pattern of food price hikes, not dissimilar to what we experienced back in 2007-2008. The 2008 food price hikes were driven by several factors, including high oil prices and the increasing … Read More…

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Africa – A Closer Look

Africa is a continent that evokes a wide range of perspectives, from the cultural to the political to the economic.  In all of these different, yet interrelated ways, it is clearly a force to be reckoned with. Consider a few … Read More…

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Precious Metals – The Outlook for Silver and Gold

“The ultimate asset bubble.” This is how George Soros described gold last year, even as his fund took sizable long positions in the precious metal. Why not take advantage of rising values (so long as the bubble doesn’t burst), particularly … Read More…

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Nuclear Energy in Germany

Nuclear energy has been heralded by many as one of the most important solutions to the growing energy demands of the world, particularly given concerns regarding increasing greenhouse gas emissions and the rising price of oil. The popularity of nuclear … Read More…

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4 Key Trends Influencing Automotive Procurement

Few industries today are as global, interrelated and complex as the automotive sector. (Fewer still have gone through the level of challenge and change that we have seen over the past several years.) As the automotive sector has emerged from … Read More…

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Success in Mergers & Acquisitions

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity is par for the course in the corporate world these days. Over the last several decades, there has been a consistent increase in both the number and value of transactions taking place, not only in … Read More…

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China and its Influence on the Global Rare Earth Metals Market

“The Middle East has its oil, China has rare earth metals.” —Deng Xiaoping, Chinese President (1992) Take an even a cursory look at any major business media today and China’s influence in the minerals and metals commodity markets is inescapable. … Read More…

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Copper – Primer & Outlook

Copper is regarded as the most valuable of primary base metals, barring nickel, even though it is not the largest base metal market in the world. Indeed, it is considered a barometer for the state of the economy, given its … Read More…

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