Global Commodity Market Analysis
Data Appendix
Global Commodity Market Analysis
Data Appendix
This appendix shows you where to find market price and quantity data for a variety of global commodities, including the defining characteristics for the commodity as measured. The "Market Definition" section of this text explains how to gather and use this data in your global commodity market forecast.
Commodities are separated into agricultural and industrial commodities.
Agricultural Commodities
Apples
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Apples".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., EUR per Kg).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the average consumer price in Euros of one kilogram of apples in metropolitan France).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Apples"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column. Because the price data (above) is given in Euros per kilogram, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. See Conversion Note below.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the price data (above) is given in Euros per kilogram, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do this is to convert the price unit from Euros per kilogram to match the quantity unit (i.e., US dollars per metric tonne). That is, express the price in terms of US dollars (USD) per metric tonne instead of Euros per kilogram. You can search the Internet for terms like "annual exchange rates euro dollar" to find sources (e.g., that show the average annual exchange rate over a given year (e.g. here).
Source: https://www.exchangerates.org.uk/EUR-USD-spot-exchange-rates-history-2021.html
Bananas
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Bananas".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per metric ton”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the price at U.S. ports, including FOB , for one metric ton of bananas shipped from Central America and/or Ecuador).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Bananas"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Barley
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Barley".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per metric ton”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the spot price for no. 1 Western Barley).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Barley"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Beef
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Beef”.
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US cents per pound”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the U.S. import price, including CIF, for 85% lean beef fores from Australia and New Zealand).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Producing Animals/Slaughtered" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Livestock primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Meat of cattle with the bone, fresh or chilled"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., "Head" of live cattle) in the "Unit" column.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Note that you will need to convert the FOA's unit of exchange (i.e., "Head" per year) to make the unit of exchange match the IMF unit of valuation (i.e., "US cents per pound"). One way to do that is to convert the "Head per year" number to an equivalent number of "Pounds per year". To do this, recognize that the USDA ERS estimates most recently (1990) that (1) the average "live weight" of one "head" of commercial cattle is 1,136 pounds (i.e., 515.3 kilograms), and (2) the "Dressing Yield" or the ratio of carcass weight to live weight for cattle is 60.2 percent. For the source, see the USDA ERS Agricultural Handbook No. 697 (1992) and specifically Table 8 on page 19.
Cocoa Beans
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Cocoa beans".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per metric ton”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the cash price, including CIF, listed by the International Cocoa Organization at US and European ports).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Cocoa, beans"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Coffee, Arabaca
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Coffee, Other Mild Arabacas". Note that the IMF also publishes price data for "Coffee, Robusta".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., US cents per pound).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the New York ex-dock cash price for arabaca coffee and other mild arabacas).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Coffee Organization (ICO).
Click on the option for "Statistics", then choose "Trade Statistics Tables", and then choose link for "Coffee production by exporting countries" under the heading "Production" to open a PDF file.
Check at the bottom of any page to confirm that you have found the most recent version of the report (i.e., "World Coffee Production". The current date should be between the two dates listed.
Find Table 2 ("Coffee Year Production by Country") and at the top of the page locate the world (i.e., "Total") production amount for "Arabicas" for the most recent year. Note that coffee production is measured in units of 60 kilogram bags.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match. Look at the "Explanatory Note" at the end of the publication and note that the "coffee year commences on 1 October of each year", meaning that the coffee production quantities from Table 2 are for the months October of the year listed through September of the following year. For example, if the year 2021 is the latest year listed on Table 2, the production period covered would be for October 2021 to September 2022.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
Note data specifications (e.g., defining commodity characteristics) for "Arabaca" coffee are described at the "Glossary Of Terms Used" webpage of the ICO website located here: https://www.ico.org/glossary.asp. See also the section on "Commodity Specifications" below.
NOTES:
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the quantity data is given in units of 60 kilogram bags per year and the price data is given in units of US cents per pound, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do this is to convert the price to US dollars per kilogram and the quantity to kilograms per year.
Coffee, Robusta
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Coffee, Robusta". Note that the IMF also publishes price data for "Coffee, Other Mild Arabacas".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., US cents per pound).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the New York ex-dock cash price for rubusta coffee).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Coffee Organization (ICO).
Click on the option for "Statistics", then choose "Trade Statistics Tables", and then choose link for "Coffee production by exporting countries" under the heading "Production" to open a PDF file.
Check at the bottom of any page to confirm that you have found the most recent version of the report (i.e., "World Coffee Production". The current date should be between the two dates listed.
Find Table 2 ("Coffee Year Production by Country") and at the top of the page locate the world (i.e., "Total") production amount for "Robustas" for the most recent year. Note that coffee production is measured in units of 60 kilogram bags.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match. Look at the "Explanatory Note" at the end of the publication and note that the "coffee year commences on 1 October of each year", meaning that the coffee production quantities from Table 2 are for the months October of the year listed through September of the following year. For example, if the year 2021 is the latest year listed on Table 2, the production period covered would be for October 2021 to September 2022.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
Note data specifications (e.g., defining commodity characteristics) for "Robusta" coffee are described at the "Glossary Of Terms Used" webpage of the ICO website located here: https://www.ico.org/glossary.asp. See also the "Commodity Specification" section below.
NOTES:
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the quantity data is given in units of 60 kilogram bags per year and the price data is given in units of US cents per pound, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do this is to convert the price to US dollars per kilogram and the quantity to kilograms per year.
Cotton
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Cotton".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per metric ton”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the price in Liverpool for "A-index" middling 1-3/32 inch staple cotton, including CIF, as listed by Cotton Outlook).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Seed cotton"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Hides
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Hides".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US cents per pound”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the wholesale dealers price of hides from heavy native steers over 53 pounds delivered to Chicago, including FOB).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Livestock primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Hides, cattle, fresh"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column. Because the price data (above) is given in units of US cents per pound, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. See Conversion Note below.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the price data (above) is given in units of US cents per pound, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do that is to convert the price unit from US cents per pound to match the quantity unit (i.e., metric "tonnes"). That is, express the price in terms of USD per metric tonne instead of US cents per pound.
Maize
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Maize (corn)".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per metric ton").
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the price including FOB for U.S. No. 2 yellow corn at the Gulf of Mexico port).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Maize"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Lamb
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Lamb”.
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US cents per pound”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the frozen carcass price in the Smithfield district of London).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Producing Animals/Slaughtered" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Livestock primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Meat, sheep"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., "Head" of live sheep) in the "Unit" column.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Note that you will need to convert the FOA's unit of exchange (i.e., "Head" per year) to make the unit of exchange match the IMF unit of valuation (i.e., "US cents per pound"). One way to do that is to convert the "Head per year" number to an equivalent number of "Pounds per year". To do this, recognize that the USDA ERS estimates most recently (1990) that (1) the average "live weight" of one "head" of commercial sheep is 125 pounds (i.e., 56.7 kilograms), and (2) the "Dressing Yield" or the ratio of carcass weight to live weight is 50.8 percent. For the source, see the USDA ERS Agricultural Handbook No. 697 (1992) and specifically Table 8 on page 19.
Milk
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “USDA Class 3 Milk" (formerly known as Basic Formula).
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “USD per CWT”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the U.S. spot price for fluid milk with Class 3 designation by the USDA).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Livestock primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Raw milk of cattle"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column. Because the price data (above) is given in units of one hundred pounds (i.e., CWT, hundredweight), you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. See Conversion Note below.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the price data (above) is given in units of one hundred pounds (i.e., CWT, hundredweight), you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do that is to convert the price unit (i.e., one hundred pounds, CWT) to match the quantity unit (i.e., metric "tonnes"). That is, express the price in terms of USD per metric tonne instead of USD per CWT. You can look up the conversion, but the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group publishes a "Commodity Metric Conversion Guide" at this website. The conversion rates listed in the publication for "Class III" or "Class IV" milk should work.
Rice
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Rice".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per metric ton").
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the nominal Thailand price quoted in U.S. dollars for 5 percent broken milled white rice).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Rice, paddy"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Rubber
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Rubber".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US cents per pound").
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the 1st contract price for No. 3 rubber smoked sheets on the Singapore Commodity Exchange).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Rubber, natural"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column. Because the price data (above) is given in US cents per pound, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. See Conversion Note below.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the price data (above) is given in US cents per pound, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do that is to convert the price unit from US cents per pound to match the quantity unit (i.e., metric "tonnes"). That is, express the price in terms of USD per metric tonne instead of US cents per pound.
Poultry
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Poultry (chicken)".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US cents per pound”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the U.S. spot price for whole, iced, and ready-to-cook birds at Georgia docks).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Producing Animals/Slaughtered" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Livestock primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Meat, chicken"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., thousands of "Head" of live chickens) in the "Unit" column. You will need to convert value in the table from thousands of head to head. See Conversion Note below.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Note that you will need to convert the FAO's unit of exchange (i.e., thousands of "Head" per year) to make the unit of exchange match the IMF unit of valuation (i.e., "US cents per pound"). One way to do that is to convert the "thousands of Head per year" number to an equivalent number of "Pounds per year". To do this, first multiply the FAO number by 1,000 to convert from thousands of head to head. Next, recognize that the USDA ERS estimates most recently (1990) that (1) the average "live weight" of one "head" of commercial chicken ("all") is 4.38 pounds, and (2) the "Dressing Yield" or the ratio of live weight to ready-to-cook weight is 72.25 percent. For the source, see the USDA ERS Agricultural Handbook No. 697 (1992) and specifically Table 15 on page 24.
Sorghum
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Sorghum".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US cents per pound”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the price including FOB for U.S. No. 2 yellow sorghum at a Gulf of Mexico port).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Sorghum"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column. Because the price data (above) is given in units of US cents per pound, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. See Conversion Note below.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the price data (above) is given in units of US cents per pound, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do that is to convert the price unit from US cents per pound to match the quantity unit (i.e., metric "tonnes"). That is, express the price in terms of USD per metric tonne instead of US cents per pound.
Soybeans
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Soybeans". Note that IMF has separate listings for "Soybean Meal" and "Soybean Oil".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per metric ton").
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the Chicago futures contract price for No. 2 yellow par U.S. soybeans).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Primary Crops > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Soybeans"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Swine
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Swine”.
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US cents per pound”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the U.S. price for 51-52% lean hogs).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Producing Animals/Slaughtered" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Livestock primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Meat, pig"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., "Head" of live swine) in the "Unit" column.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Note that you will need to convert the FAO's unit of exchange (i.e., "Head" per year) to make the unit of exchange match the IMF unit of valuation (i.e., "US cents per pound"). One way to do that is to convert the "Head per year" number to an equivalent number of "Pounds per year". To do this, recognize that the USDA ERS estimates most recently (1990) that (1) the average "live weight" of one "head" of commercial swine (i.e., hogs) is 249 pounds (i.e., 112.9 kilograms), and (2) the "Dressing Yield" or the ratio of carcass weight to live weight for hogs is 72.4 percent. For the source, see the USDA ERS Agricultural Handbook No. 697 (1992) and specifically Table 8 on page 19.
Tea
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Tea".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US cents per kilogram”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the Mombasa, Kenya auction price for best pekoe fannings).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Tea"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column. Because the price data (above) is given in US cents per kilogram, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. See Conversion Note below.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the price data is given in US cents per kilogram, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do that is to convert the price unit from US cents per kilogram to match the quantity unit (i.e., metric "tonnes"). That is, express the price in terms of US dollars (USD) per metric tonne instead of US cents per kilogram.
Tomatoes
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Tomatoes".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., EUR per Kg).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the average consumer price in Euros of one kilogram of tomatoes in metropolitan France).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Tomatoes"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column. Because the price data (above) is given in Euros per kilogram, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. See Conversion Note below.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the price data (above) is given in Euros per kilogram, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do this is to convert the price unit from Euros per kilogram to match the quantity unit (i.e., US dollars per metric tonne). That is, express the price in terms of US dollars (USD) per metric tonne instead of Euros per kilogram. You can search the Internet for terms like "annual exchange rates euro dollar" to find sources (e.g., that show the average annual exchange rate over a given year (e.g. here).
Source: https://www.exchangerates.org.uk/EUR-USD-spot-exchange-rates-history-2021.html
Wheat
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Wheat".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per metric ton").
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the price for No. 1 hard red winter wheat with ordinary protein at Kansas City).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics” and select the "FAOSTAT" option and then click the "Explore Data" button.
Select the "Production" option and then click on the "Crops and livestock products" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items" option, click on the ">" symbol next to the "Crops Primary > (List)" option, and click the radio button for "Wheat"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., metric "tonnes") in the "Unit" column.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Industrial Commodities
Aluminum
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Aluminum”.
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per metric ton”).
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the LME spot price at UK ports including CIF for aluminum that has a 99.5% minimum purity).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for International Aluminum Institute (IAI).
Find the website section for “Statistics”.
Select the option for “Primary Aluminum Production”.
Select the option/icon for “Data”.
Select a 12-month period and click the “Apply” button.
Sum the monthly values in the "Total" column from the generated table or see the automatically summed total.
Note the units of exchange (e.g., “thousands of metric tonnes of aluminum”).
Note data specifications (e.g., commodity characteristics) and sources on the same webpage. See also the "Commodity Specifications" section below.
NOTES:
The IAI updates these data monthly.
Direct link: https://international-aluminium.org/statistics/primary-aluminium-production/
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Other Possible Data Sources
The National Minerals Information Center of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) publishes annual data for world smelter production quantity and a global price proxy. See entry for “Aluminum” in the latest (annual) “Mineral Commodity Summaries" (here).
Coal
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet two varieties of coal: (1) "Australian Thermal" coal and (2) "South African" coal.
Gather the monthly price data for both varieties for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) across both varieties to get a single average price for time desired time period. That is, for each year, average the prices of the two varieties of coal and then average those values across all of the selected years.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per metric ton").
Note in the column heading the specific prices that the IMF uses as proxies for global price (i.e., the price including FOB at Newcastle/Port Kembla of Australian thermal coal that produces 12,000 btu/pound with less than 1% sulfur and 14% ash and the South African export price). Elsewhere in its spreadsheet, the IMF publishes an index based on a simple average of these two prices, providing justification for you to create an equivalent proxy (i.e., an unindexed average of the two prices).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Click on the "Tools" option, click on "Data Tools, Apps, & Maps", and then click on "International Energy Statistics" and "Browse data".
Click on "Coal and Coke" and then "Coal and Coke Production".
Click on "Data Options" and select all of the following:
"World" (i.e., all countries)
"Coal and coke" from the box next to "Energy Sources"
"Coal (Total)" and no other box under "Activities"
"Column" under "Visualization"
"Metric" under "Units"
"Annual" under "Frequency"
Slide the toggle points at the end of the slide bar to include the year(s) for which you want data. The most recent year(s) may be null values (i.e., in preparation). Pick several recent years (e.g., the most recent five years).
Click on "View Data". The total production for the "World" is listed at the top of the table in units of thousands of metric tons (i.e., Mmt). If you selected several years, pick the total world value for the most recent year. If interested, the rest of the table provides data about production by individual countries. You can hover over the "Download Options" tab and download an Excel table, if desired.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
Direct link: https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data. For example, the EIA website has a glossary at this webpage where you can look up terms related to coal.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Copper
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Copper".
Find the table showing "Salient Statistics--United States" on the first page.
Find the row listing the "London Metal Exchange" price and find the price for the most recent year. Take note that the most recent year has a superscript "e" which the associated footnote indicates price values for that year is "estimated".
This is the price that the USGS has decided to use as a proxy for the global price (i.e., the cash price for Grade A copper via the London Metal Exchange).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The USGS publishes an updated commodity summary report each year in January with annual data for penultimate year (e.g., the 2022 edition was published on January 31, 2022 and has annual data for 2020).
Direct links:
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Copper".
Find the table showing "World Mine and Refinery Production and Reserves" on the second of two pages for various countries for two different years. Look at the section on "Mine Production" and the column for the more recent (i.e., rightmost) year which the footnote indicates is "estimated".
Find at the bottom of that table value for "World total" for that more recent year. That value is the global quantity for that year. The unit of exchange is listed at the top of the first page (i.e., thousands of metric tons of contained copper).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The USGS publishes an updated commodity summary report each year in January with annual data for penultimate year (e.g., the 2022 edition was published on January 31, 2022 and has annual data for 2020).
Direct links:
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
The USGS measure of world mine production of copper accounts for the total global production of all products that meet the tariff specification for "Copper ore and concentrates, copper content" (i.e., HS 2603).
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Crude Oil
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet three varieties of crude oil: (1) "Dated Brent", (2) "Dubai Fateh", and (3) "West Texas Intermediate".
Gather the monthly price data for all three varieties for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) across all three varieties to get a single average price for time desired time period. That is, for each year, average the prices of the three varieties and then average those values across all of the selected years.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per barrel").
Note in the column heading the specific prices that the IMF uses as proxies for global price (i.e., the spot prices for the three major varieties of crude oil, namely "Dated Brent", "Dubai Fateh", and "West Texas Intermediate"). Elsewhere in its spreadsheet, the IMF publishes an index based on a simple average of these three prices, providing justification for you to create an equivalent proxy (i.e., an unindexed average of the three prices).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Click on the "Tools" option, click on "Data Tools, Apps, & Maps", and then click on "International Energy Statistics" and "Browse data".
Click on "Petroleum and Other Liquids" and then "Annual petroleum and other liquids production".
Click on "Data Options" and select all of the following:
"World" (i.e., all countries)
"Petroleum and other liquids" from the box next to "Energy Sources"
"Crude oil, NGPL, and other liquids (Total)" and no other box under "Activities"
"Column" under "Visualization"
"U.S." under "Units"
"Annual" under "Frequency"
Slide the toggle points at the end of the slide bar to include the year(s) for which you want data. The most recent year(s) may be null values (i.e., in preparation). Pick several recent years (e.g., the most recent five years).
Click on "View Data". The total production for the "World" is listed at the top of the table in units of thousands of barrels per day (i.e., Mb/d). If you selected several years, pick the total world value for the most recent year. If interested, the rest of the table provides data about production by individual countries. You can hover over the "Download Options" tab and download an Excel table, if desired.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match. If your price data is the average price of the three crude oil varieties over a 12 month period (recommended), then you will need to convert the measure of quantity from barrels per day to barrels per year by multiplying the per day production value by 365.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
Direct link: https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data. For example, the EIA website has a glossary at this webpage where you can look up terms related to crude oil.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Fertilizer, Nitrogen
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Nitrogen (Fixed)--Ammonia".
Find the table showing "Salient Statistics--United States" on the first page.
Find the row listing the price and find the price for the most recent year. Take note that the most recent year has a superscript "e" which the associated footnote indicates price values for that year is "estimated".
This is the price that the USGS has decided to use as a proxy for the global price (i.e., the average gulf coast price, including FOB, in U.S. dollars per short ton).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The USGS publishes an updated commodity summary report each year in January with annual data for penultimate year (e.g., the 2022 edition was published on January 31, 2022 and has annual data for 2020).
Direct links:
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Nitrogen (Fixed)--Ammonia".
Find the table showing "Plant Production" on the second of two pages for various countries for two different years. Look at the column for the more recent (i.e., rightmost) year which the footnote indicates is "estimated".
Find at the bottom of that table value for "World total" for that more recent year. That value is the global quantity for that year. The unit of exchange is listed at the top of the first page (i.e., "thousands of metric tons of contained nitrogen").
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
The USGS world production data accounts for the total global production of all products that meet the tariff specification for the four items listed in that section of the report.
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the price data is given in US dollars per "short ton" and the quantity data is given in "metric tons" per year, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do that is to convert the price unit from short tons to match the quantity unit (i.e., metric tons). That is, express the price in terms of US dollars (USD) per metric ton instead of US dollars (USD) per short ton.
Fertilizer, Potash
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Potash".
Find the table showing "Salient Statistics--United States" on the first page.
Find the row listing the price for "all products" and find the price for the most recent year. Take note that the most recent year has a superscript "e" which the associated footnote indicates price values for that year is "estimated".
This is the price that the USGS has decided to use as a proxy for the global price (i.e., the average mine price, including FOB, for MOP, SOP, and SOPM, expressed in dollars per metric ton of potassium oxide equivalent). While the USGS does not specific whether the term "ton" is "short ton" or "metric ton", elsewhere (e.g., here) indicates that the standard unit of exchange for potash globally is the "metric ton".
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The USGS publishes an updated commodity summary report each year in January with annual data for penultimate year (e.g., the 2022 edition was published on January 31, 2022 and has annual data for 2020).
Direct links:
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Potash".
Find the table showing "World Mine Production and Reserves" on the second of two pages for various countries for two different years. Look at the column for the more recent (i.e., rightmost) year which the footnote indicates is "estimated".
Find at the bottom of that table value for "World total" for that more recent year. That value is the global quantity for that year. The unit of exchange is listed at the top of the first page (i.e., thousands of metric tons of potassium oxide equivalent).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
The USGS world production data accounts for the total global production of all products that meet the tariff specification for the four items listed in that section of the report.
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Gold
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Gold".
Find the table showing "Salient Statistics--United States" on the first page.
Find the row listing the price and find the price for the most recent year. Take note that the most recent year has a superscript "e" which the associated footnote indicates price values for that year is "estimated".
This is the price that the USGS has decided to use as a proxy for the global price (i.e., the Engelhard average annual price in US dollars per troy ounce).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See the Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The USGS publishes an updated commodity summary report each year in January with annual data for penultimate year (e.g., the 2022 edition was published on January 31, 2022 and has annual data for 2020).
Direct links:
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Gold".
Find the table showing "World Mine Production and Reserves" on the second of two pages for various countries for two different years. Look at the section on "Mine Production" and the column for the more recent (i.e., rightmost) year which the footnote indicates is "estimated".
Find at the bottom of that table value for "World total" for that more recent year. That value is the global quantity for that year. The unit of exchange is listed at the top of the first page (i.e., metric tons of contained gold).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The USGS publishes an updated commodity summary report each year in January with annual data for penultimate year (e.g., the 2022 edition was published on January 31, 2022 and has annual data for 2020).
Direct links:
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
The USGS measure of world mine production of gold accounts for the total global production of all products that meet the tariff specification for "Gold bullion" (i.e., HS 7108.12.1010) and "Gold dore" (i.e., HS 7108.12.1020).
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the price data is given in US dollars per "troy ounce" and the quantity data is given in "metric tons" per year, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do that is to convert the quantity unit from metric tons to match the price unit (i.e., troy ounces). That is, express the quantity in terms of troy ounces per year instead of metric tons per year. Note that in this USGS publication under the listing for "Gold" says in Footnote 1 that one metric ton (1,0000 kilograms) equals 32,150.7 troy ounces.
Sawlogs, Hard
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for "Hard Logs".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per cubic meter").
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the import price to Japan of Malaysian meranti sawlogs that meet the standards for "best" quality).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics”, select the "FAOSTAT" option, click on the ""Data" tab on the top menu bar, click on the "Domains Table" tab, and click on the "Forestry Production and Trade" link under the "Forestry" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items Aggregated" option and click the radio button for "Sawlogs and veneer logs > (List)"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., "m3" or cubic meters) in the "Unit" column. Softwood sawlogs are called "coniferous" sawlogs. Hardwood sawlogs are called "non-coniferous" sawlogs. Be sure to use the appropriate value.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FO
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Sawlogs, Soft
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for "Soft Logs".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per cubic meter").
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the average export price of Douglas fir tree sawlogs).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics”, select the "FAOSTAT" option, click on the ""Data" tab on the top menu bar, click on the "Domains Table" tab, and click on the "Forestry Production and Trade" link under the "Forestry" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items Aggregated" option and click the radio button for "Sawlogs and veneer logs > (List)"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., "m3" or cubic meters) in the "Unit" column. Softwood sawlogs are called "coniferous" sawlogs. Hardwood sawlogs are called "non-coniferous" sawlogs. Be sure to use the appropriate value.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FO
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Sawnwood, Hard
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Hard Sawnwood".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per cubic meter").
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the price of Dark Red Meranti of select and better quality, including C&F, at U.K. ports).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics”, select the "FAOSTAT" option, click on the ""Data" tab on the top menu bar, click on the "Domains Table" tab, and click on the "Forestry Production and Trade" link under the "Forestry" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items Aggregated" option and click the radio button for "Sawnwood > (List)"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., "m3" or cubic meters) in the "Unit" column. Softwood is also called "coniferous" and hardwood is also called "non-coniferous", so be sure to use the appropriate value.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FO
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Sawnwood, Soft
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Find the webpage for “Commodity Prices”.
Find the link for the “Excel Database” and download and open the Excel file.
Find the price (not price index) column on the spreadsheet for “Soft Sawnwood".
Gather the monthly price data for the desired time period (e.g., one year).
Average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “US$ per cubic meter").
Note in the column heading the specific price that the IMF uses as a proxy for global price (e.g., the average export price of sawnwood from Douglas fir trees).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The IMF updates these data monthly.
Direct link is https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
Find the website section for “Statistics”, select the "FAOSTAT" option, click on the ""Data" tab on the top menu bar, click on the "Domains Table" tab, and click on the "Forestry Production and Trade" link under the "Forestry" option.
With the "Download Data" option highlighted in the upper left, select all of the following:
from the upper left hand box, select the "Regions" option and the radio button for "World + (Total)"
from the upper right hand box, select the "Production Quantity" option
from the lower left hand box, select the "Items Aggregated" option and click the radio button for "Sawnwood > (List)"
from the lower right hand box, click on the most recent year
below that, select the following: (i) "Output Type" as "Table", (ii) "File Type" as "XLS", and (iii) under "Output Formatting Options" check "Flags", "Notes", "Codes", and "Units"
Click the "Download Data" button and open the resulting Excel file. The global quantity is listed in the "Value" column with the unit of exchange (i.e., "m3" or cubic meters) in the "Unit" column. Softwood is also called "coniferous" and hardwood is also called "non-coniferous", so be sure to use the appropriate value.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The FAO updates these data annually in December for the previous year.
https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FO
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41881
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
FAOSTAT data makes it easy to find the associated commodity specifications. From the "FAOSTAT" data selection webpage, click on the "Definitions and Standards" link (or click here) and use the search box to look up the codes (e.g., for "Element Code" and "Item Code") from the Excel file that you downloaded. In some cases, HS codes are also shown in the search results. If so, you will see one or more four-, six-, or 10-digit HS codes in the search results table in the column"HS07 Code" and/or "HS12 Code".
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Silver
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Silver".
Find the table showing "Salient Statistics--United States" on the first page.
Find the row listing the price and find the price for the most recent year. Take note that the most recent year has a superscript "e" which the associated footnote indicates price values for that year is "estimated".
This is the price that the USGS has decided to use as a proxy for the global price (i.e., the Engelhard average annual bullion price in US dollars per troy ounce).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See the Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The USGS publishes an updated commodity summary report each year in January with annual data for penultimate year (e.g., the 2022 edition was published on January 31, 2022 and has annual data for 2020).
Direct links:
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Silver".
Find the table showing "World Mine Production and Reserves" on the second of two pages for various countries for two different years. Look at the section on "Mine Production" and the column for the more recent (i.e., rightmost) year which the footnote indicates is "estimated".
Find at the bottom of that table value for "World total" for that more recent year. That value is the global quantity for that year. The unit of exchange is listed at the top of the first page (i.e., metric tons of contained silver).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match. See Conversion Note below.
NOTES:
The USGS publishes an updated commodity summary report each year in January with annual data for penultimate year (e.g., the 2022 edition was published on January 31, 2022 and has annual data for 2020).
Direct links:
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
The USGS measure of world mine production of silver accounts for the total global production of all products that meet the tariff specification for "Bullion" (i.e., HS 7106.91.1010) and "Dore" (i.e., HS 7106.91.1020).
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Conversion Note
Because the price data is given in US dollars per "troy ounce" and the quantity data is given in "metric tons" per year, you will need to convert the price or quantity data so that the units match. One way to do that is to convert the quantity unit from metric tons to match the price unit (i.e., troy ounces). That is, express the quantity in terms of troy ounces per year instead of metric tons per year. Note that in this USGS publication under the listing for "Silver" says in Footnote 1 that one metric ton (1,0000 kilograms) equals 32,150.7 troy ounces.
Tin
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Tin".
Find the table showing "Salient Statistics--United States" on the first page.
Find the row listing the "London Metal Exchange" price and find the price for the most recent year. Take note that the most recent year has a superscript "e" which the associated footnote indicates price values for that year is "estimated".
This is the price that the USGS has decided to use as a proxy for the global price (i.e., the cash price via the London Metal Exchange).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The USGS publishes an updated commodity summary report each year in January with annual data for penultimate year (e.g., the 2022 edition was published on January 31, 2022 and has annual data for 2020).
Direct links:
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Find the webpage for the "National Minerals Information Center" using the website search tool.
Click on the "Commodities" option to get to the "Commodity Statistics and Information" webpage, click on the "Commodities Summaries" button, and click to open (or download) the most recent "Mineral Commodity Summaries" report (PDF). This document is updated and published each year in December and has market data for about 80 non-energy mineral commodities.
Search the PDF document and find the two-pages titled "Tin".
Find the table showing "World Mine and Refinery Production and Reserves" on the second of two pages for various countries for two different years. Look at the section on "Mine Production" and the column for the more recent (i.e., rightmost) year which the footnote indicates is "estimated".
Find at the bottom of that table value for "World total" for that more recent year. That value is the global quantity for that year. The unit of exchange is listed at the top of the first page (i.e., thousands of metric tons of contained tin).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The USGS publishes an updated commodity summary report each year in January with annual data for penultimate year (e.g., the 2022 edition was published on January 31, 2022 and has annual data for 2020).
Direct links:
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
The USGS measure of world mine production of tin accounts for the total global production of all products that meet the tariff specification for "Tin, not alloyed" (i.e., HS 8001.10) and "Tin Alloys (i.e., HS 8001.20.0010, HS 8001.20.0050, and HS 8001.20.0090) but excludes tin waste and scrap.
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data.
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Steel
Global Market Price
STEPS:
Find the website for the London Metals Exchange (LME).
Click on "Market Data", select the "Reports and Data" option, and then select "Historical Data for Cash Settled Futures".
Click to download the Excel spreadsheet for "Historical Settlement Prices" for "LME Steel HRC FOB China (Argus)".
Open the Excel file and average the chosen monthly prices (e.g., 12) to get an average price for time desired time period.
Note in the column heading the units of valuation and exchange (e.g., “USD/mt" which is U.S. dollars per metric ton).
Note the specific historic LME price that you have chosen to use as a proxy for the global price (i.e., the LME price, including FOB, for hot-rolled coil steel from the Argus Steel distributor in China).
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
The LME updates this data set monthly.
Direct Link: https://www.lme.com/Market-data/Reports-and-data/Historical-data-for-cash-settled-futures
Global Market Quantity
STEPS:
Find the website for the World Steel Association (WSA).
Click on "Data" option from the website's homepage.
Click on the "Annual Steel Data" option that includes "Production, trade, and use".
The "World Total" of "Crude Steel" is presented for the most recent year in several locations on this webpage with the option near the bottom of the page to download the data as a "Table" in an Excel (i.e., .xls) file.
Download the Excel file and find the row for "World" for the most recent year. This is the global production quantity listed in thousands of metric tons.
Confirm that the analytical time period selected for your price data and quantity data match.
Confirm that the units of exchange for your price data and quantity date match or can match.
NOTES:
Direct Link: https://worldsteel.org/steel-topics/statistics/annual-production-steel-data/P1_crude_steel_total_pub/CHN/IND/
Commodity Specifications
Commodity specifications are the criteria or defining product characteristics that were used to distinguish whether different products were or were not counted in a particular measure of total quantity.
Commodity specifications often use an internationally accepted product classification system called the Harmonized System (HS) administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). HS codes are numbers that can have as many as 10 digits where codes with more digits indicate increasing levels of product specificity (see here). In many instances, production data for global commodities reference one or more HS codes. These HS codes and their associated descriptions can be used to identify what commodity characteristics were used to distinguish which products were counted and which products were not counted in the production data. If you find an HS code associated with production data, search the internet to find the formal description associated with that code. You can also use the "Schedule B Search Engine" at the Census.gov website.
In all cases, be sure to read all of the footnotes, endnotes, and definitions that accompany many data reports. As a last resort, you might search for a "glossary" at the website that has published the original data. For example, the WSA website has a glossary at this webpage where you can look up terms related to steel, including the definition of "crude steel".
If you have production or other quantity data for a commodity and cannot find details about what specifically was meant by the use of a term (e.g., "soybeans", "cotton", etc.), then you should not use or rely on that data.
Direct links:
Other Possible Data Sources
The National Minerals Information Center of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) publishes data annually on global production of raw (crude) steel. See entry for “Iron and Steel" in the latest (annual) “Mineral Commodity Summaries" (here).
In the case of steel, search the Word Steel Association website for the technical definition that this organization uses to define what this commodity is when this organization calculates production quantities for each country and for the world in total. This information is on the same page for "Global Market Quantity" described above. At that data page, there is information about what "crude steel" is and what it includes. This same information is in the "Steel Statistical Yearbook" published by the World Steel Association.