If you haven’t seen already, and I'm sure you have, election season in the US has begun. Republican candidates are battling it out to become the presidential nominee and take on current president Barack Obama during this year’s election. But what role will outsourcing play?

I recently read an article about tin producers in Indonesia and the problems they have faced over the past few months because of falling prices. An aspect of this story got me thinking about procurement's relationship with key suppliers and what happens during a difficult patch - the likes of which many industries will be familiar with at the moment.

What is the likelihood of the Eurozone collapsing? What would the consequences of such a collapse be? Big questions which have been on the minds of procurement and finance chiefs who have an interest in European markets.

The London Metal Exchange (LME), one of the world’s most widely known and used metal exchanges, has had something of a tough year, beginning when some of world’s biggest users of aluminium, including Novelis, complained about the LME’s warehousing strategy and how this was artificially inflating prices.

Back in late November, the Indian government announced plans to open up its $450bn retail sector to foreign companies before, a few days later, backtracking and putting them on hold after strong opposition from politicians, concerned about the impact on local traders.

What does 2012 have in store for commodities? It’s a question that, as we begin a new year, is at the very top of many peoples’ thoughts, particularly after the volatility that was such a feature of 2011.

The 2011 commodity markets can be summed up in one word – volatile. It is this that buyers will remember their dealings in commodities - as natural disasters, political uprisings and economic crises shook markets to the core, sending prices on a rollercoaster ride.