- MetalsWhat is a metal in trading? In trading, metals are a trad... More, such as iron ore, aluminium, silver or
- Food items, such as wheat, rice, sugar, salt, coffee beans, and soybeans
- Energy commodities, such as , coal, natural gas and electricity
“Soft commodities” are grown, while “hard commodities” are the ones that are extracted through mining. Electricity has the particular characteristic that it is usually uneconomical to store.
The treats units of a commodity as equivalent (or nearly so), disregarding who produced them. For example, there is little difference between one barrel of crude oil and another barrel of crude oil, regardless of who the supplier or producer is. There can be slight differences in the quality, but it is essentially the same product.
“From the taste of wheat it is not possible to tell who produced it, a Russian serf, a French peasant or an English capitalist.” (Karl Marx, Critique of Political Economy. 1859)
An example for a good that is not a commodity are TV sets. They have many aspects of product differentiation, such as the brand, the perceived quality or the user interface. Thus, the demand for a specific TV set can be much larger than the demand for another.
Commodities trading
Commodities are usually priced in . If the US dollar is therefore not the denominated currencyWhat is currency? Currencies are the generally accepted medi... More in your , you need to be aware that fluctuations will affect your trading results.
Through , commodities can be traded on many .
Commodities & the forex market
Some countries have economies that are strongly dependent on exporting commodities, such as , or . The values of the of these countries are often influenced by changes in commodity prices. For example, AustraliaAustralia is the 6th largest country in the world by area. O... More is a substantial producer of goldGold is a precious metal and an important financial commod... More. If the priceWhat are value stocks? A value company is a company that app... More of gold increases, then more Australian dollars are needed to purchase that gold and so the value of the Australian dollar will increase.
Read more about the influence of commodity prices on currencies:
