Business Environment by Pearson

276 | Business Environment

non- agricultural commodities, and explains, at least partly, why the very recent period has seen

such sharp hikes in the price.  e commodity speculation has also a ected the minerals and met-

als sector. For these commodities, it is evident that recent price increases have been largely the

result of increased demand, not only from China and other rapidly growing, developing coun-

tries, but also from the United States and EU.

A positive fallout of the recent growth in the demand and diversi cation of sources of the

demand is that it has allowed primary metal-producing countries, especially in Africa, to bene