Cotton
Cotton is grown in a form called a boll, which is a fluffy white ball around the seeds of the cotton plant, and is the most widely-used natural fiber for the manufacture of clothes in the world. Cotton has been used in the making of clothing for thousands of years and is one of the worlds leading agricultural commodities.
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Coffee
Coffee has been an important commodity over the course of its 2,000 years history. Before becoming popular in Europe in the 17th century, coffee was mainly found in the Arabian peninsula. Brazil are the largest producer of coffee with 33% market share, followed by Vietnam, Indonesia, Colombia and Ethiopia. There are two main types, Robusta and Arabica. ICE exchange in New York trades Arabica, while LIFFE in London trades Robusta.
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Sugar
Sugar is derived from two plant sources, namely sugar cane and sugar beet with a much larger percentage coming from the former of the two. The juices of both of these plants are processed to produce a wide range of sugars, that may be either white or brown in appearance. There are a number of sugar commodities traded on global commodity exchanges, however the main one is Sugar #11.
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Cocoa
Cocoa is a brown powder that is made from ground roasted cacao beans which have had most of the fat removed and which are obtained from the Theobroma cacao or cocoa tree. Since it was discovered in the 1800's that liquid coca butter could be pressed out of cocoa beans and mixed with sugar to form chocolate, demand for the commodity has been in high demand.
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Orange Juice
Up until 1947 there was no way to preserve orange juice for long periods of time, so trading orange juice was limited. It was then that a technique was invented by which concentrated orange juice could be frozen, which greatly increased its shelf life and potential for trade. Orange Juice refers to this Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice that comes from the fruit of the Orange tree. Most Orange Juice which is sold throughout the world is pasteurized Orange Juice reconstituted from a dehydrated juice concentrate.
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Lumber
Random length lumber refers to lumber that is supplied at varying lengths while generally adhering to increments of evenly-cut 2 foot boards in a 2 x 4 format. Although termed ‘random’, the length of each board should not be less than 8 feet and should not generally exceed 20 feet. Primary species of lumber are Western Spruce-Pine-Fir, although other Western species, such as Hem-fir, Englemann Spruce, Alpine Fir, and Lodgepole Pine, may also be delivered.
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