GeoeconomicFragmentationandCommodityMarkets JorgeAlvarez,MehdiBenatiyaAndaloussi,ChiaraMaggi, AlexandreSollaci,MartinStuermerandPetiaTopalovaWP/23/201 IMFWorkingPapersdescriberesearchinprogressbytheauthorsandarepublishedtoelicitcommentsandtoencouragedebate. TheviewsexpressedinIMFWorkingPapersarethoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsoftheIMF,itsExecutiveBoard,orIMFmanagement. 2023 OCT ©2023InternationalMonetaryFundWP/23/201 IMFWorkingPaper ResearchDepartment GeoeconomicFragmentationandCommodityMarkets PreparedbyJorgeAlvarez,MehdiBenatiyaAndaloussi,ChiaraMaggi,AlexandreSollaci, MartinStuermerandPetiaTopalova* AuthorizedfordistributionbyDanielLeigh October2023 IMFWorkingPapersdescriberesearchinprogressbytheauthorsandarepublishedtoelicitcommentsandtoencouragedebate.TheviewsexpressedinIMFWorkingPapersarethoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsoftheIMF,itsExecutiveBoard,orIMFmanagement. ABSTRACT:Thispaperstudiestheeconomicimpactoffragmentationofcommoditytrade.Weassembleanoveldatasetofproductionandbilateraltradeflowsofthe48mostimportantenergy,mineralandagriculturalcommodities.Wedevelopapartialequilibriumframeworktoassesswhichcommoditymarketsaremostvulnerableintheeventoftradedisruptionsandtheeconomicrisksthattheypose.Wefindthatcommoditytradefragmentation–whichhasacceleratedsinceRussia’sinvasionofUkraine–couldcauselargepricechangesandpricevolatilityformanycommodities.Mineralmarketscriticalforthecleanenergytransitionandselectedagriculturalcommoditymarketsappearamongthemostvulnerableinthehypotheticalsegmentationoftheworldintotwogeopoliticalblocsexaminedinthepaper.Tradedisruptionsresultinheterogeneousimpactsoneconomicsurplusacrosscountries.However,duetooffsettingeffectsacrosscommodityproducingandconsumingcountries,surpluslossesappearmodestatthegloballevel. JELClassificationNumbers: F11,F12,F14,F15,F17,F41,F42,F43,Q17,Q27,Q37,Q43. Keywords: Commodities;internationaltrade;sanctions;spillovers;prices;geoeconomicfragmentation. Authors’E-MailAddresses: jalvarez@imf.org,mbenatiyaandaloussi@imf.org,cmaggi@imf.org,abalduinosollaci@imf.org,mstuermer@imf.org,ptopalova@imf.org. *WearegratefultoMarijnBolhuis,JiaqianChen,ThibaultFally,Pierre-OlivierGourinchas,OlegItskhoki,BenjaminKett,PetyaKoevaBrooks,DanielLeigh,AndreiLevchenko,JulienMartin,AndreaPescatori,AndreaPresbitero,JamesSayre,DavidShin,andJohnSturmforcommentsandsuggestions.WethankThibaultFallyandJamesSayreaswellasMarijnBolhuis,JiaqianChenandBenjaminKettforsharingdataandrelatedcodewithus.WearegratefultoNaomiIdoineandhercolleaguesfromtheBritishGeologicalSurveyforguidanceondata.YarouXuandCanranZhengprovidedexcellentresearchassistance.TheviewsinthispaperarethoseoftheauthorsanddonotreflecttheviewsoftheInternationalMonetaryFund,itsExecutiveBoard,oritsManagement. 1Introduction WithRussia’sinvasionofUkraine,individualcommoditiessuchascrudeoil,naturalgas,andwheatwereusedtoexertpressureinamajorconflictforthefirsttimesincetheendoftheColdWar.Newrestrictionsoncommoditiestradespikedin2022(Figure1)contributingtoinflationarypressuresandaffectingoutputinmanycountries. Figure1:NewTradeRestrictions(Index,2016-2019=100) Note:GlobalTradeAlert(GTA)andauthors’calculations.Thischartshowsthenumberofnewtradeinterventionsimposedoncommoditysectorsineachyear.DataissourcedfromtheGTAdatabaseandadjustedforreportinglags(i.e.,onlyinterventionsreportedbeforeDec31steachyearareincludedinthedatabase).OnlyinterventionsthattheGTAdeems“certaintodiscriminateagainstforeigncommercialinterests”areincluded. Whilemostcommoditypricesnormalizedin2023,geopoliticaltensionssignalthatmoreseveregeoeconomicfragmentation1ofcommoditytradeisstillamajorrisk.Butwhichcommoditiesaremostvulnerableintheeventoffurtherdisruptionsininternationaltrade?Andinwhichcommoditymarketswouldfurtherfragmentationleadtosizableeconomic 1BuildingonAiyaretal.(2023a),geoeconomicfragmentation(referredtoas“fragmentation”forbrevityintherestofthepaper)isdefinedasanypolicy-drivenreversalofintegration,includingreversalsguidedbystrategicconsiderationssuchasnationalsecurity.Itencompassestrade,fiscalandfinancialmeasuressuchastariffs,exportrestrictions,subsidies,andrestrictionsonpayments.Thetradeliteratureoftheearly2000sused“fragmentation”todescribethegeographicdispersionofproductionprocessesingloballyintegratedsupplychains(see,e.g.,ArndtandKierzkowski,2000;Deardorff,2001). losses?Inthispaper,wedevelopacomprehensivedatasetandframeworktoassesstherelativesensitivityofabroadsetofcommoditymarketstofragmentationandgaugepotentialeconomicimpacts. Ouranalysisproceedsintwosteps.First,weconstructanewdatasetlinkingproductionandbilateraltradeflowsfor48ofthemostimportantenergy,mineralandagriculturalcommodities.Second,wedevelopasingle-commoditypartialequilibriumtrademodeltoexaminethepotentialimpactsoffragmentationontradeflows,prices,andproductionofeachcommodity.Applyingthissimpleframeworktoindividualcommoditiesallowsustoassesstherelativepricesensitivityandmacro-importanceofalargenumberofcommoditieswithminimaldatarequirements.2 Aftercalibratingthe