Commodities Pricing and the Bulk Trap

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Introduction to Commodities

   • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

   Pages 1-9

3. The Unlikely Seeds of Commoditisation Reversal

   • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

   Pages 11-19

4. Break in the Commoditisation Trend: Information Proliferation Starting to Shatter the Commodity Illusion

   • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

   Pages 21-27

5. The Energy Market Revolution: A Canary in the Coal Mine

   • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

   Pages 29-52

6. Learnings from the Energy Market Decommoditisation Process

   • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

   Pages 53-65

7. Parallel Decommoditisation Trends in Non-energy Markets

   • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

   Pages 67-93

8. Commodities Next in Line for Decommoditisation

   • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

   Pages 95-104

9. How Could Countries Reap the Benefits of the Decommoditisation Trend

   • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

   Pages 105-115

10. How Businesses Can Become Winners of the Decommoditisation Trend

    • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

    Pages 117-125

11. Possible Decommoditisation Derailers

    • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

    Pages 127-134

12. The Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow

    • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

    Pages 135-139

13. Epilogue and Further Reading

    • Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

    Pages 141-142

This book takes a fresh look at pricing, product differentiation and the need for decommoditisation in market sectors where products and services are standardised and interchangeable. In the first chapters the book explains what commodities are, and puts them into a historical perspective to promote an understanding of their production and its effects. From this baseline the book then presents a case study on how decommoditisation has progressed within the energy industry. Building on this case study and learnings from other sectors, it develops a theoretical framework, characterising the processes and mechanisms observed to be extended towards different industries.
This framework is then utilised in the following chapters as a model to explain the progression of decommoditisation, and to examine other sectors through this lens. To conclude, the book presents the implications for stakeholders and suggestions on how to respond to them from a policy and business standpoint. In a final chapter the book develops an outlook on current trends and possible alternative pathways, and summarizes the main takeaways for management professionals and policymakers alike.  

• de-commoditization
• product differentiation
• service differentiation
• pricing strategy
• discounting prices
• energy sector
• case study
• bulk trap
• long term positioning
• commoditization
• policy making and governance
• business model adaptation
• Engineering Economics

• Flyinge, Sweden

  Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg

With an academic background in Economic History (Msc) and Nanoscience Engineering (Msc), Fredrik Andrén-Sandberg has been working several years in the European energy industry across both the conventional and renewable spectrum. While working with the European and Asian markets in various positions ranging from Business Development and Strategy to Regulatory Affairs - he has witnessed and has been part of driving the renewable energy transformation first hand. He is currently living outside of Lund in Southern Sweden, but is working with wind power in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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