Is the Next Phase To Be Commodity Wars?

As the global trade system that had existed under the Bretton Woods II money regime evolves and changes, we may see more struggles for key commodities.

These will be characterized by local and regional military tensions as well as financial assaults on the relevant sovereign credit and currencies.

Reuters
12 Companies Join German Commodity Alliance
By Michael Hogan
Jan 30, 2012 3:23pm GMT

HAMBURG, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Twelve German companies have joined the new German alliance aimed at securing raw materials supplies in the face of growing competition for key commodities, the Federation of German industry BDI said on Monday.

In October 2010, Germany's government approved a new commodities strategy aimed at helping German industry secure supplies in the face of intense competition from China and other newly-industrialised countries which will include partnerships with supplier countries and greater cooperation between German commodity consumers.

A series of major German companies have been involved in talks about a project lead by German industrial association BDI to invest in foreign commodity projects and 12 have now agreed to join, the BDI said.

The founding members are copper producer Aurubis, chemical groups BASF, Bayer, Evonik Industries, Wacker Chemie < WCHG.DE> and Chemetall; carmakers BMW and Daimler ; steelmakers Georgsmarienhütte Holding, Stahl-Holding-Saar, ThyssenKrupp and electronics group Bosch.

"We are working together to build up a powerful corporation which will provide long-term improvements to Germany's raw material supplies," said BDI vice president Ulrich Grillo. Grillo is head of one of Germany's leading zinc processing groups Grillo-Werke AG.

"The alliance has the goal of taking shareholdings in commodity projects to achieve a long-term improvement in the supply of raw materials to industry," Grillo said.

"The commodity alliance will become involved in projects at an early phase which seek and assess reserves so as to give German companies the option of sourcing (raw materials) or taking shareholdings," Grillo added.

In specific cases the alliance may itself invest in projects to develop commodity reserves, he said....

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