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Analysis

Commodity Prices Often Wrong

Traders say benchmark prices for raw materials are off as much as 27 percent of the time.

By Lananh Nguyen and Isaac Arnsdorf, Bloomberg | Updated on October 09, 2013

Commodities traders who buy and sell as much as $5.67 trillion of raw materials a year say the benchmark prices for everything from oil to iron ore to gasoline are wrong as often as 27 percent of the time.

In a Bloomberg News survey conducted during the past eight weeks, 85 traders and analysts said they have little confidence in the assessed prices of crude, metals and iron ore. Regulators, including European Union Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, may examine commodities markets, having already increased investigations of manipulation of benchmarks for interest rates, derivatives, foreign exchange and oil.

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