Commodity Trade and Finance

12 Metal derivative markets Metal derivative markets In the preceding chapters, we examined the economic fundamentals of the key mineral and metal resources, and analysed how demand and supply drivers interact to reach equilibrium in terms of the quantity consumed and the price paid for each commodity. We also considered the various pricing regimes for different commodities and noted how most minerals are priced as a differential to the finished metal, which itself is priced on commodity exchanges, of which the most influential is the LME.