Increased interest in commodities is fuelling innovation among specialists and driving competition among banks as they try to get into the highly competitive market.

Several companies seeking to strengthen their presence are threatening commodities stalwarts, such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Deutsche Bank, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas and ABN Amro have boosted their commodities businesses and brought in expertise from other departments. Banks have also turned to the complementary areas of energy and weather derivatives, which have seen a surge in interest.