6 Most Traded Commodities Worldwide

Сommodity trading is quite popular among traders with small amounts of capital. However, beginners often choose gold contracts, which are highly volatile. Any commodity asset is a complex instrument, and before trading, it is necessary to understand what makes its price fluctuate. Like other commodity instruments, corn is traded on exchanges in the form of futures, which involve both physical delivery and non-delivery.

• Statistics or past performance is not a guarantee of the future performance of the particular product you are considering.
• Aluminum is widely used across industries, from aerospace and automotive manufacturing to construction and packaging.
• For traders, knowing which are the most traded commodities in the world – and why – is fundamental.
• Futures for both types of coffee are traded on the Tokyo Grain Exchange (TGE).

Now is the best time to become a LiteFinance client!

At Permutable, we work with institutional clients to track narrative-driven volatility across the top traded commodities. Here, we share a few examples highlighting how sentiment intelligence provides foresight across commodity markets. The commodity’s price reacts to geopolitical tensions that can cause supply and demand imbalances. Natural gas is increasingly important for power generation and heating, with rising demand worldwide.

• In the US alone, the retail coffee industry is worth $18 billion annually.
• On the supply side, growth is constrained by geopolitical instability in key oil-producing regions, underinvestment in new exploration projects, and tightening environmental regulations.
• So when you’re deciding the best commodity to trade, think about your goals and strategy – and always be sure to research the market thoroughly.
• The situation with constantly growing demand for gas supplies has been observed for several years in a row, which attracts investors and speculators.

Most Traded Commodities in the World: Guide to Top Trading Markets

For institutional systematic, quantitative and discretionary traders and asset managers, the challenge is no longer access to commodity price charts or knowing the current price of commodities. The commodity futures trading market exists precisely because of the volatility inherent in the highest commodity in the world. Here, our commodity market sentiment data feeds into this by detecting when narratives begin to influence futures pricing. For example, rising sentiment around “inventory builds” in crude or “export bans”, for instance, in wheat often foreshadow moves in commodity futures charts and quotes. By combining historical commodity prices with real-time sentiment signals, traders gain both context and foresight. Beginners should first pay attention to highly liquid commodity assets, which are offered by almost all brokers, and the information about which is publicly available.

West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil

Crude oil is the top-selling commodity, and its dominant position is a result of the significant volume of physical deliveries. Oil is the primary source of fuel for transportation, industry, and power generation. Despite efforts to transition to green energy, global demand for oil remains high. According to the International Energy Agency, global supplies reached 102.9 million barrels per day in 2024. Platinum is a rare and valuable metal used primarily in jewelry, industrial applications, and catalytic converters for controlling vehicle emissions.

A lot of traders forget or overlook agricultural commodities as trading instruments. Soft commodities like Coffee and Cocoa are among the most traded and consumed goods in the world. COMEX holds the record for the most traded copper Options contracts in a single day. On Friday the 21st of September ,089 contracts (91,727 metric tons) were traded. Ultimately, though, when you’re thinking about what the best commodity to trade is, you should take a look at what influences market prices and what’s happening in the world. Crude oil is crucial for energy and transportation, with its price affecting the automotive and tech sectors alongside a host of other industries.

Down But Not Out: Our View on Mexico’s Economic Outlook

The situation with constantly growing demand for gas supplies has been observed for several years in a row, which attracts investors and speculators. This is why the top 5 commodities – oil, natural gas, gold, silver, and copper – are often the first where clients deploy our market intelligence. Their liquidity makes them highly tradable, while their narrative sensitivity makes them ideal for AI-driven sentiment analysis. Of course, most desks already monitor the daily price of the most traded commodities. At Permutable, we track commodities news in real-time, clustering news stories into explainable drivers. If gold sentiment spikes on “safe haven demand” while copper sentiment falls on “slowing construction,” our system shows the divergence in real time.

The most traded commodity in the world is crude oil, recognized for its pivotal role in global energy markets. The commodity’s high volume of trade is driven by its critical importance in powering industries, transportation, and generating electricity. This makes its crude oil’s price highly sensitive to geopolitical events, supply chain disruptions, and shifts in energy policy. Traders and analysts closely monitor crude oil prices as they can significantly impact economic sectors worldwide. As with all commodity assets, the key contract is futures for several types of sugar. The most commonly traded futures are No. 11 and No. 16, representing futures contracts for the physical delivery of raw cane sugar.

While oil ranks first in the world in terms of physical supply, gold trading is the global leader in exchange-traded contracts. Gold is a global commodity equivalent against which all world currencies are valued. Throughout history, gold has been considered the main measure of wealth and prosperity, and it is for this reason that the volume of gold trading grows year after year.

Oil is the most liquid commodity, and for this reason, fluctuations in its price can lead to both quick profits and losses. To ensure your oil trades are successful, you need to understand the characteristics of this asset and the principles of pricing. The main advantage of trading commodities is the guarantee of trade execution and risk insurance. On the other hand, the disadvantages of such trading are high risks, low leverage, high commissions, and taxes. We recommend that you seek independent financial advice and ensure you fully understand the risks involved before trading.

South Africa dominates global production, accounting for nearly 70% of supply, with Russia and Zimbabwe also playing key roles. Looking ahead, our panelists’ platinum price forecast is for prices drifting up this year from last and continuing to trend up in subsequent years. Platinum’s role in green hydrogen production will likely be a driver, as will higher emerging-market jewelry demand. That said, automotive demand will tail off going forward as palladium substitution runs its course and the transition to electric vehicles continues. Labor strikes and power shortages in South Africa are the key risk to supply.

Futures contracts are popular on major exchanges, while CFDs on commodities are offered by most Forex brokers. However, the first place in the world in terms of trading volume is rightfully held by the arbitrage on the Brent/WTI price difference. This position is often referred to as a spread, as traders essentially compare the prices of these grades and bet on the difference widening or narrowing. Commodity trading is usually held either on an international commodity exchange or in the OTC market.

The unit of measurement for No. 11 and No. 16 sugar contracts is pounds, while white sugar No. 407 is traded in tons. Gold pricing is mainly influenced by geopolitical tensions and demand for physical gold. When there is significant turbulence in the global political and economic landscape, the gold price rises as traders mitigate the risks of investing in other assets and reallocate their money to gold.

A barrel of crude oil produced ic markets review by ExxonMobil and Chevron should be at the same standard, so brokers, exchanges and buyers are indifferent to the source of the commodity. Commodity futures contracts can bring more profit, but trading them requires skills and knowledge. Such contracts can be used as a way of running a business, reducing the cost of purchasing raw materials. You can also create hedging structures in which one commodity is offset by another, which will reduce your potential risks to almost zero.