We present a competitive storage model of commodity prices featuring frictions that introduce an element of irreversibility into storage decisions. This leads to situations in which speculators do not trade in the spot market even though total storage is positive. As a result the market value of...

The commodity bull cycle of 2006-2008 and subsequent dramatic price decline have been a source of hardship for traditional commodity market participants such as producers and merchant/shippers. The usefulness of futures markets has been called into question, especially given that some market...

This paper finds that the long-term co-movement of commodity prices is driven by economic relationships, such as production, substitution, and complementary relationships. Such relationships imply that the convenience yield of a given commodity depends on its relative scarcity with respect to...

This work discusses potential pitfalls of applying linear regression models to explaining the relationship between spot and futures prices in electricity markets. We briefly introduce the theory for the analysis of the spot-futures price relationship and highlight selected issues of multiple...

A strong increase in the demand for some commodities over the last decade will have a major impact on their future supply situation. Of increasing importance, therefore, is an assessment of a commodity's criticality, and especially its supply risk, by appropriate indicators. The literature has...

This article investigates the modelling of the convenience yield in the European carbon market by using daily and intradaily measures of volatility. The convenience yield stems from differences in spot and futures prices, and can explain why firms hold inventories. The main findings are that (i)...

This article explains the role of the convenience yield in the relationships linking spot and futures prices in commodity derivatives markets. First, this variable restores the non arbitrage relationship between the prices of the underlying asset and the derivative instrument. Second, it allows...