This book looks at the growing economic impact of the Asian Driver economies and particularly China on global prices and through this on other low income economies. Farooki and Kaplinsky consider both the possibility of a sustained rise in commodity prices as well as the growing financialization of global commodity markets and exploring the interconnections between these issues discuss the theory and policy related challenges ahead. In the midst of a sustained global economic crisis, the authors argue that countries like China follow a commodities-intensive growth-path and that the strategic significance of commodities prices lies not so much in their nominal prices, but in their prices relative to other sectors (manufactures and services); thus, economic crisis will affect not only the commodities sector.

Drawing on a large number of diverse sources, The Impact of China on Global Commodity Prices comprehensively and systematically evidences the trends in the prices of different sets of commodities, analyses the drivers of China's demand for commodities the factors constraining global supply and in the role which the financialisation of commodities is playing in constraining commodity production. It also documents and the growing role of China as a foreign investor in the commodities sectors. All of these trends are woven together to explore the fabric of strategic choices confronting public and private sector decision-makers.