Commodity trading in Asia, or rather the lack of it, has been one of the great puzzles of the modern trading world. Asia, with 3 billion people, has become the world's engine of commodity demand. In spite of this, the region has failed to establish a strong commodity exchange. The vacuum has allowed London, New York and Chicago to thrive as commodity trading hubs. Consequently, today we have a scenario where Asian-based analysts look at macroeconomic trends in the region to forecast demand for commodities but have to turn to places like Chicago and London to check prices. What makes the whole situation even more ironic is the world's first commodity exchange - the Dojima Rice Exchange - was introduced by Japan back in 1697.
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