The 7 Stages of Commodity Market Evolution

The year 2019 will be remembered as a watershed year for physical commodities. The 120 million-ton U.S. proppant market felt the sting of oversupply, the nascent hemp industry opened up following its 2018 legalization and, in an unprecedented move, the “Big Six” agribusinesses formed a partnership to digitize the highly manual international grain trade. Despite these various commodity sectors cycling at different rates, there remains a common thread to the evolution of these – and all – physical markets.