Cointegration between high base metals prices and backwardation: Getting ready for the metals super-cycle

This paper is devoted to test agents’ behavior in the markets of hard commodities by trying to distinguish between managing future price structures to hedge their positions and speculating in on prices. We do a triple analysis: cointegration on the time series, structural breaks over the full time s...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Galán Gutiérrez, Juan Antonio, Labeaga Azcona, José María, Martín García, Rodrigo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
Repositorio:e-spacio. Repositorio Institucional de la UNED
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:e-spacio.uned.es:20.500.14468/22338
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/22338
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Normal backwardation
Cointegration
Base metals
Hard commodities
Futures price structure
Descripción
Sumario:This paper is devoted to test agents’ behavior in the markets of hard commodities by trying to distinguish between managing future price structures to hedge their positions and speculating in on prices. We do a triple analysis: cointegration on the time series, structural breaks over the full time series and panel data. The analysis of the full series and the identification of structural breaks allows us to discover the connection between high prices and the negative futures price structure (backwardation) in rising prices scenarios of tin, copper, aluminium, and zinc. Moreover, we obtain that the base metals full matrix (price and futures price structure) is cointegrated in our analysis that uses panel data methods. We believe that these results are important for agents in the markets, as commodity traders or brokers, to maximize profits in their hedging positions.