CFTC-ITF report to be made public by month-end

The Interagency Task Force on Commodity Markets (ITF) is expected to issue its report by end of September. The ITF was set up by the US government in June to study the fundamental factors and market forces affecting commodity markets.

In light of the recent rise in crude and commodity prices, and the influx of new investors into commodity futures markets, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) formed an inter-agency task force to evaluate developments in commodity markets.

The task force is composed of members from the departments of agriculture, energy and the treasury, the board of governors of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

?I expect that interest in commodity markets is going to remain high. In addition to the focus on energy markets, I think there is going to be increased attention paid to issues that have been raised by participants in agricultural markets,? Michael V Dunn, commissioner, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said.

?The ITF will continue to develop its analysis of crude oil and expand its work to cover other commodities in the coming months,? he said. In July, the ITF published an interim report on the crude oil markets.

This preliminary report concluded that the fundamental supply and demand factors provided the best explanation for the increase in crude prices.

The report found no statistical evidence that speculative trading was systematically driving oil prices, and highlighted several global trends in oil markets such as the significant increase in the rate of growth of the world economy, stagnant production of oil, geopolitical unrest in oil-producing countries, and the weakening US dollar.