Another week, another set of surprising commodity-price movements. While softs - particularly coffee - remain volatile (coffee and sugar reached highs, while cocoa and orange juice fell back), it was in the energy markets that most activity occurred.

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Were you away last week? Or a bit pressed and didn't have time to keep an eye on developments? Well, fear not - here's a roundup of last week's most popular stories on ProcurementLeaders.com.

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Through a combination of supply shortages, the expectation of a return to demand normalising and several other prompts, commodity prices have been busting previous highs and putting strain on contracts. A mixture of erratic weather and jittery markets has kept the summer unpredictable and given buyers plenty to think about.

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Will this week go down in history as the week that the UK public sector finally sorted out its procurement?

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For those complaining about price volatility, soft commodities are not a place to be right now. These situations put stress on buying strategies and they don’t show any sign of easing up. Still, for some it’s not just uncertainty driving these erratic prices.

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French supermarket giant Carrefour is the latest in a line of major retailers and consumer goods manufacturers to drop the Indonesian producer Sinar Mas' APP products on the grounds of poor sustainability practices.

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There's an excellent and well-researched article in the New York Times from a day or two ago which looks in some depth at Apple's iPhone 4 supply chain, and the reliance it has on low-margin Chinese suppliers to produce its product at a price point which is attractive enough to consumers.

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Here we go again – following global markets in recent months has been, at times, similar to watching the football world cup: occasionally unpredictable, rewarding and frustrating by turns and taken extremely seriously. But is there anything here to really worry about for those that hedge sensibly?

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Welcome to the future. iJetpacks are made in Indonesia and parts for hovercars come from Greece. OK, but flippancy aside – China has spent years as a chief topic of concern and intrigue because it has been the low-cost sourcing destination of choice for so many as the influence of globalisation spread through emerging markets. But that could be changing.

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The global economy, if it is truly on the way to recovery, is at very best a finely balanced place. And for all the positive talk, there’s still the very real question of whether procurement is equipped for what is happening right now in the financial and commodity markets.

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