- Backwardation
- A market condition in which futures prices are lower in the distant delivery months than in the nearest delivery month. This situation may occur in when the costs of storing the product until eventual delivery are effectively subtracted from the price today. The opposite of contango. The New York Times Financial Glossary
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FINANCE when a commodity that will be delivered in the future has a higher price than one that will be delivered now:• In an economic slowdown it is surprising to see the copper market in backwardation.
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In commodity markets, backwardation is a situation where the cash or near delivery price rises above the price for forward delivery. The forward price is usually higher than the cash price to reflect the added costs of storage and insurance for stocks deliverable at a later date. Shortage of supply is often to blame for backwardation, because demand for the spot or cash product rises sharply, but the futures price stays steady because more supplies are expected in the future. The opposite of backwardation is contango.* * *
backwardation UK US /ˌbækwəˈdeɪʃn/ US /-wɚd/ noun [U]► FINANCE, STOCK MARKET a situation in which the price of a commodity (= a product, such as oil or a metal, that is traded in large quantities) is lower if the buyer is to receive the commodity at a future date than it is if the buyer receives it immediately: »Silver has been in backwardation for the past five weeks.
Financial and business terms. 2012.