Backwardation is a phenomenon that occurs when the spot price of a commodity is lower than the futures price. This means that the futures prices are higher than the current price. It occurs when there is a shortage of the underlying commodity, or when there is a seasonal high demand.The opposite of backwardation is called contango. This is when futures prices are lower than the spot price. This occurs when there is a large amount of the commodity in the market, or when the demand is low.