Correlation structure analysis of the global agricultural futures market

Abstract: This paper adopts the random matrix theory (RMT) to analyze the correlation structure of the global agricultural futures market from 2000 to 2020. It is found that the distribution of correlation coefficients is asymmetric and right skewed, and many eigenvalues of the correlation matrix deviate from the RMT prediction. The largest eigenvalue reflects a collective market effect common to all agricultural futures, the other largest deviating eigenvalues can be implemented to identify futures groups, and there are modular structures based on regional properties or agricultural commodities among the significant participants of their corresponding eigenvectors. Except for the smallest eigenvalue, other smallest deviating eigenvalues represent the agricultural futures pairs with highest correlations. This paper can be of reference and significance for using agricultural futures to manage risk and optimize asset allocation.