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Commodity Trading Guides
How a bulk commodity deal works, step by step: delivery terms, offers, suppliers and documents.
FOB vs CFR vs CIF
In a sale of bulk commodities by sea, the delivery term decides who books the ship, who pays freight and insurance and where the risk moves from seller to buyer. Here is how the three most used terms differ.
FOB sell offers
A sell offer is a public notice that you have a commodity ready to ship. On Comdity every sell offer is on FOB terms, and you can open it to other terms if you wish.
CFR and CIF buy requests
A buy request tells sellers what you want to import and at which port. On Comdity a buy request is on CFR and CIF terms: the seller brings the cargo to your discharge port.
Offer and counteroffer
A commodity deal is made step by step: a listing, an offer, often a counteroffer, and then an agreement. This guide shows how the steps work on Comdity.
Find commodity suppliers
Finding a real supplier or buyer is the hardest part of a first commodity deal. Here are the places to look and the checks to make before you commit.
Export and import documents
Every bulk shipment by sea travels with a set of documents. They prove what was shipped, where it comes from and who has the right to take it at the destination.
Urea suppliers: top countries
Urea is the most traded nitrogen fertilizer in the world. A few producing regions, above all Russia and the Middle East, supply most of the buyers in Brazil, India, the United States and Australia.
Wheat exporters: top countries
Wheat is traded by a small number of exporters and bought by many importing countries. This guide shows who leads the trade, where the cargoes are loaded and who buys them.
Palm oil suppliers
Palm oil trade is concentrated in two countries. Indonesia and Malaysia together supply more than four fifths of the oil that crosses borders.
Iron ore suppliers
Iron ore is one of the largest commodities in sea trade, with two dominant exporters and one dominant buyer.
Coal suppliers
Coal is traded in huge volumes for power stations and steel mills. A handful of exporters supply buyers in China, India, Japan and South Korea.
Soybean exporters
Soybeans are one of the biggest agricultural cargoes in the world. Two exporters lead the market and one importer buys more than half of what is traded.
Commodity trading platform
The words "commodity trading platform" cover very different things. Some are exchanges for futures, some are brokers, and some are marketplaces where companies trade physical cargoes. Here is how to tell them apart.
Commodity traders
A commodity trader buys goods from producers and sells them to buyers, often in other countries. Traders move grain, sugar, salt, timber, metals and chemicals between the places where they are made and the places where they are needed.
Rice exporters: top countries
Rice is traded by a few Asian exporters and bought by dozens of importing countries, many of them in Africa and the Middle East. India alone has about three tenths of the trade.
Steel scrap: sell in bulk
Steel scrap is the raw material of electric arc furnaces and a large export cargo. This guide is for scrap dealers who sell cargoes of thousands of tonnes to steel mills abroad.
Sugar suppliers: top countries
Sugar is traded in very large cargoes, and one country dominates the supply. Brazil alone ships almost half of the sugar that crosses borders.
Corn exporters: top countries
Corn, also called maize, is the main feed grain of the world. Four exporting countries supply most of it, and the buyers are livestock feed makers and processors.
Potash suppliers: top countries
Potash, or muriate of potash (MOP), is the main potassium fertilizer. Only a few countries have the mines, so supply is concentrated, and the buyers are mostly large farming economies.
Steel billets suppliers: top countries
Steel billets are the semi-finished steel that rolling mills turn into rebar and wire rod. They are traded in cargoes of thousands of tonnes between steel-making regions and re-rolling countries.
HRC suppliers: top countries
Hot rolled coil is the most traded flat steel product. Steel makers sell it to pipe makers, service centres and manufacturers, and a coil cargo can be many thousands of tonnes.
Copper cathode suppliers: top countries
Refined copper cathodes are the standard form of refined copper. They are traded by the tonne against the metal market, and China is by far the largest buyer.
DAP and MAP suppliers: top countries
DAP and MAP are the two main phosphate fertilizers. A few producing countries supply most of the world, and the buyers are large farming economies such as India and Brazil.
How commodity prices are quoted
A price in bulk commodity trade is never just a number. It comes with a unit, a delivery term, a quality basis and a period, and two offers can only be compared when these match.
Commodities by sea: world trade
Most bulk commodities travel by sea. The numbers for 2024 show which cargoes grew, which fell and why the distance matters as much as the weight, with the outlook for the next years.
Looking for a product? See the list of commodities.