Commodity Markets Contend With a Growing Liquidity Crisis
- Aggregated open interest in oil futures hit lowest since 2015
- Rising collateral requirements lower holdings of gas contracts
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Commodity markets are struggling to shake their months-long liquidity crisis that’s brought an era of erratic swings in the value of the world’s raw materials.
The giant price fluctuations that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled markets for everything from natural gas to crude oil and metals. Trading activity in most raw material markets has sunk to low levels. Open interest in oil last week hit the lowest since 2015, while natural gas, sugar and aluminum futures holdings all remain at or near the lowest levels in years.