The Role of the Soviet Union in Metals Markets: A Case Study of Copper, Manganese and Chromite

This chapter analyses the manoeuvrability of the Soviet Union in three strategic metals markets.1 The approach taken is to adopt a recently proposed framework which interrelates market conditions, price formation, and market structure and power so as to draw implications regarding the role of the Soviet Union in the future performance of these markets.2 The metals markets selected for analysis are those in which the Soviet Union can exert differing degrees of market power, from a lower degree for copper and a moderate degree for manganese to a higher degree for chromite. This chapter has been organised such that the above framework is applied to each of the metals in turn. The concluding emphasis in each section is on the form and extent of the commodity power that could be exercised: economic power which implies the maximization of economic benefits from trading, political power which implies a capacity to compel another country to modify its behaviour through its perception of what actions might take place, and strategic power which implies the strategic and economic impacts of actually executing the threat. In the final section comments are offered regarding problems posed by possible Soviet influences on the evaluation of both market structure and power.