Is the supercycle drawing to a close - or just taking an extended siesta? "We may have exhausted the commodity asset price bubble but, in historic terms, commodity prices are still relatively high and there seems little to suggest an imminent collapse," Ms Bain says. She thinks that Chinese growth, although it will be lower, will still be strong, with ongoing urbanisation and growth in disposable incomes. "Despite the relatively solid demand outlook, the recent strength of prices will have prompted a supply response - while this may, in some cases, take just one season for agricultural crops; energy and mineral projects take much longer to come on stream, sometimes decades," Ms Bain adds. Over the next few years, the deficiency in supply, which partly underpinned the price gains of the last decade, could start to ease in many commodities allowing prices to slip back. Mr Bielski agrees that commodity-intensive urbanisation will continue. "We believe it is imperative for China to make the transition from an investment-driven economy to a consumption-based economic growth model, but it's too early for them to do this yet as the urbanisation rate - and hence pool of consumers - remains too low," he says. We think faster urbanisation in the central provinces is key in the next five to 10 years for China to achieve higher numbers of consumers to facilitate this critical economic transition. Kenneth Hoffman, global head of metals and mining research at Bloomberg thinks you should consider the dynamics of each individual commodity, rather than focusing on a broader supercycle. Investors need to be as particular as ever on which metal they choose as an investment. There are no longer simply 'industrial metals" or even 'precious metals,"" Mr Hoffman explains. Each metal has its own outlook, especially when it comes to supply. Each has its own set of new mines coming on line, new higher or lower grades, new environmental and local laws and taxes, leading to higher or lower costs," he adds. For example while iron ore and nickel have seen price declines, copper and gold have had strong years. Neil MacKinnon, VTB Capital's global macro strategist, is also gloomy about economic prospects going into 2013, a situation that could be bad for commodity prices. The hope of an early economic recovery has been dashed this year and there is no particular sign that we have reached the bottom. Trying to keep things calm in advance of the US election ultimately just delays the day of reckoning. 2013 will show that sovereign debt problems are not confined to the eurozone," Mr MacKinnon said. Western expats move over as skilled Afghans return home The resources industry is well known for its legions of expat staff, the highly paid skilled workers who move from project to project in ever more obscure locations. But change is afoot - in Afghanistan and Iraq, of all places, according to recruiters. The countries" nationals working in the UK are being headhunted by big businesses back home, they say, with the vast majority of these roles on offer coming from the oil and gas sectors. The trend is seen as part of an effort among firms to reduce their reliance on Western expats, now that economic recovery is taking place. "We are being approached much more frequently by big businesses and public sector organisations in Iraq and Afghanistan, with very specific staffing briefs bring back highly skilled foreign nationals," says Gavin Smith at recruitment firm ReThink. These "expat-returnees" are being offered compensation packages that are mostly on a par with those offered Western expats, says Rethink. The advantage to employers is that even if they pay the same salary, they do not face additional costs such as flight and accommodation expenses, or so-called "hardship pay." That's not all, Smith argues. Not only do returning nationals tend to remain in the post for longer, but they are far better at transferring skills to their colleagues than expat workers from the UK. Brent crude spurts up amid rising political tensions Brent crude, London's benchmark oil, rose in trading last week, meaning that its price gained nearly 15pc for the third quarter of this year as a whole. In contrast, Brent had suffered a 20pc drop in the second quarter of this year as economic concerns grew. However, its recent climb does not signal all is well in the world. "Economic fundamentals have once again been outweighed by geopolitical worries," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo. Specifically, Brent rose last week as Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, drew a "red line" for Iran's nuclear ambitions in a speech at the UN, stoking concerns that Middle East tensions threaten oil supplies.