An article under this title in the September 1964 Bulletin gave an account of the resumption of commodity trading in the various U.K. markets after the 1939-45 War. It described the part played by the Bank of England in drawing up and administering exchange control schemes which gave member firms as much freedom as possible in their overseas transactions; and it went on to explain the value of the markets to the U.K. economy, to outline the broad principles of commodity marketing, including futures trading, and to discuss some of the problems of world trade in commodities and the means of dealing with them.
The present article surveys the events of the succeeding five years, describing the major price movements and other features of world trade, and discussing in some detail the situation of the U.K. markets and developments therein; but first there is a brief review of the nature and functions of the markets.
UK commodity markets