Commodity market at the exchange: What Is It?
- George Solotarov
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In search of reliable investment options, many people turn to the commodities market as one of the most common and understandable types of investment. The commodities exchange market is an international wholesale marketplace. It provides access to a large number of sellers, and different prices, and allows for bargains on a number of commodities.
Commodity markets bring together buyers and sellers to trade at prices determined by the market laws of supply and demand. If a commodity is in high demand and supply is low, prices go up. And if demand is low when supply is high, prices fall sharply.
Commodity trading is one of the ways to diversify your investment portfolio by buying and selling commodities. Traders seek to hedge against inflation through commodity trading because their portfolio assets rise as commodity prices rise.
Seeking to capitalize on price fluctuations, traders speculate on the future value of commodities. However, given the heightened volatility of commodities, one must consider that this type of trading is considered risky because the price can shift sharply in the opposite direction, resulting in losses.
What is a commodities market?
A commodity market is a market in which commodities or primary commodities are sold and bought. Commodities can be different types of products, such as wheat, oil, natural gas, and non-ferrous and precious metals. These are called exchange-traded commodities.
Unlike the regular stock market, large corporations or even individual countries actively trade on a commodities exchange along with private investors. They see offers from different sellers, evaluate prospects, and make deals to quickly acquire the types of commodities they need.
Commodity exchanges are divided into two main types:
- Universal commodity exchanges, where commodities from different groups are traded, such as livestock, metals, and oil;
- Special exchanges, where one commodity or products from one group are traded, e.g. precious metals.
Commodity markets are one of the oldest forms of financial instruments. According to the discoveries of historians and archaeologists, rice was traded about 6,000 years ago, and around 4,500 B.C. the Sumerians already used clay tokens, which served as money, to pay for the purchased cattle.
Trade in metals, spices, or oil created empires, which then began to use complex trading systems and means of exchange. Now physical exchanges still exist, but most trading has been completely converted into electronic form.
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