Guide to Commodities: Producers, Players and Prices, Markets, Consumers and Trends

Providing a comprehensive overview of the economic importance of commodities in general and each of the main commodities themselves, this guide is in four main parts, as follows:

Market fundamentals

• The economics of commodities
• Commodities as financial assets

Base and precious metals

• Aluminium
• Copper
• Gold
• Other precious metals
• • Silver
  • Platinum

• P

alladium

• Lead
• Nickel
• Tin
• Zinc

Energy

• Coal
• Natural gas
• Crude oil

Agriculture

• Cocoa
• Coffee
• Fibres
• C

otton

• Wool

• Maize
• Rice
• Natural rubber
• Soybeans
• Sugar
• Wheat

Glossary

Sources of statistical information

We live our lives surrounded by products made, in part at least, using the world’s natural resources – from the clothes we wear and the food we eat to the cars we drive, the houses we live in and the electronic devices we use. We depend on commodities, and commodity consumption increases as countries become more developed.

Steadily rising, although at times volatile, prices in the past decade have underlined the economic importance of commodities and our dependence on them. The price of gold has soared to new peaks as currencies have endured a crisis of confidence; demand from China has pushed metal prices up; instability in the Middle East and North Africa has had its effect on the oil price; and food prices have been increasing in parallel with worries about whether there is enough to feed the world.

We take commodities for granted but few people know much about them. Here, in one accessible volume, is a comprehensive guide to the economics of commodities and the main commodities themselves – where they are found, how they are processed, what they are used for, production, consumption and price trends, markets and trade, and the outlook for the future.