Structural Changes in the Global Commodities Market

Commodities play an important part in the growth of the material production and in the world trade in goods and services. The access to raw materials is vital for sustaining the economic and social development of any country and for satisfying domestic demand for material goods. Increasing demand for commodities and the need for assuring a sustainable supply pose great challenges on the world economy. This paper is dealing with the main developments which occured during the last 15 years in the global commodity market, a major driver of the world economy, pointing out to the rapidly growing consumption, on the one hand, and the remarkable role played by China, an extremely dynamic economy, which has become by far the largest world consumer for such important commodities as aluminium, copper, nickel, meat, soybeans, on the other hand.