Top 10 most traded commodites
Written by Top 10 Lists (Google+) on 2012-06-22
Investors are always looking for the “next big thing” to put
their money towards. However, sometimes it’s best to stick with proven winners
that have a history of withstanding declines in the economy. That is one thing
that the top 10 most traded commodities in the world have in common, they have
battled the test of time. Here are the commodities that have earned their spot
as the most popular throughout the world.
Cotton is one of the oldest fibers known to man and has been around for thousands of years. Our closets are filled with cotton products and it’s almost impossible to avoid products that have cotton in them. Whether it’s your blankets, t-shirts, or socks, cotton is everywhere. The top 3 producers of cotton in the world are the U.S., India, and China. Even with its dark history in the U.S., cotton has endured over the years to remain one of the top 10 most traded commodities in the world. More info
While a lot of investors are looking into the futures of gold, silver, and other popular commodities, wheat is slipping right past their eyes. People are starting to become more health conscious and are looking for healthier food options, thus we’ve seen a rise in the consumption of whole wheat foods. Since wheat is used in cereal, bread, flour, and many other popular grocery cart fillers, expect the popularity of wheat to continue to rise. More info
This is one of the most popular agricultural products in the world. Just like sugar, corn and corn byproducts are used in many of the foods we consume on a regular basis. It may shock you to find out that one of the largest consumers of corn is not even humans! Corn is primarily used to feed livestock such as cows and chickens on farms. One fairly new use of corn is as a fuel source, but researchers are still trying to figure out the best way to use it as an alternative to gasoline. More info
You’ll be hard pressed to find a country that doesn’t trade sugar. Global consumption of sugar has been on the rise since the 90’s. A quick look at the ingredients on almost any snack food will show you why sugar is so popular. Sugar has become so popular in fact, that many of the foods we consume daily probably wouldn’t exist without sugar. Most of the sugar in the world today comes from Brazil, but there are many other countries that rely on sugar as a major economic source such as India and China. More info
Silver is another popular commodity that is popular amongst investors. Silver is seen as a “safe” investment. Unlike paper money, the government cannot control the value of Silver. Also, silver is used for a variety of products such as automobiles, medical instruments, and even alternative energy. With all the utility that silver provides, there might be a day where it outranks Gold in the list of most traded commodities. More info
Coming in at number 5 is yet another oil. The major source of Brent oil is the North Sea and it is used mostly by European and African Countries. A fun fact about this oil is that the name is actually an Acronym for the layers of the oil fields it was initially found in Broom, Rannoch, Etieve, Ness and Tarbat. More info
Although you may be surprised that this popular commodity did not make it in the top 3, make no mistake that Gold is still very popular. And this is evident by the amount of new businesses offering to buy your old gold jewelry for cash. There was a surge in the amount of investors looking to invest in gold in 2011 as they began to grow more fearful of the value of paper money. However, unlike gas or oil, Gold has very little usefulness aside from being nice to look at. More info
Just like Crude oil, natural gas is extremely versatile. It’s used for everything from heating water to lighting. Russia and Norway are among the biggest natural gas exporting countries in the world. And according to the Natural Gas Supply Association, the demand for gas is set to increase by 8.3 percent this summer! More info
Thanks to the U.S. and Europe, coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world right now. On average, Americans consume over $4 billion of coffee each year and that number seems to only be going up from there. Starbuck’s annual sales have been going up over the past few years reaching over $11 million in 2011. So it’s safe to say that coffee is a hot item right now in more ways than one. More info
It should come as no surprise that Crude oil tops the list of the most traded commodities. We tend to automatically associate oil with gasoline, but there are plenty of other uses that make oil so popular. It’s used as a heating source, plastic, and synthetic fibers just to name a few. The various uses of crude oil help explain why it’s so popular right now. More info
So the next time you’re looking to invest in the next big technological advancement, take it back to the basics. Commodities are often times safer bets as we generally cannot live without them and this list is proof of that.
10 Cotton
Cotton is one of the oldest fibers known to man and has been around for thousands of years. Our closets are filled with cotton products and it’s almost impossible to avoid products that have cotton in them. Whether it’s your blankets, t-shirts, or socks, cotton is everywhere. The top 3 producers of cotton in the world are the U.S., India, and China. Even with its dark history in the U.S., cotton has endured over the years to remain one of the top 10 most traded commodities in the world. More info
9 Wheat
While a lot of investors are looking into the futures of gold, silver, and other popular commodities, wheat is slipping right past their eyes. People are starting to become more health conscious and are looking for healthier food options, thus we’ve seen a rise in the consumption of whole wheat foods. Since wheat is used in cereal, bread, flour, and many other popular grocery cart fillers, expect the popularity of wheat to continue to rise. More info
8 Corn
This is one of the most popular agricultural products in the world. Just like sugar, corn and corn byproducts are used in many of the foods we consume on a regular basis. It may shock you to find out that one of the largest consumers of corn is not even humans! Corn is primarily used to feed livestock such as cows and chickens on farms. One fairly new use of corn is as a fuel source, but researchers are still trying to figure out the best way to use it as an alternative to gasoline. More info
7 Sugar
You’ll be hard pressed to find a country that doesn’t trade sugar. Global consumption of sugar has been on the rise since the 90’s. A quick look at the ingredients on almost any snack food will show you why sugar is so popular. Sugar has become so popular in fact, that many of the foods we consume daily probably wouldn’t exist without sugar. Most of the sugar in the world today comes from Brazil, but there are many other countries that rely on sugar as a major economic source such as India and China. More info
6 Silver
Silver is another popular commodity that is popular amongst investors. Silver is seen as a “safe” investment. Unlike paper money, the government cannot control the value of Silver. Also, silver is used for a variety of products such as automobiles, medical instruments, and even alternative energy. With all the utility that silver provides, there might be a day where it outranks Gold in the list of most traded commodities. More info
5 Brent Oil
Coming in at number 5 is yet another oil. The major source of Brent oil is the North Sea and it is used mostly by European and African Countries. A fun fact about this oil is that the name is actually an Acronym for the layers of the oil fields it was initially found in Broom, Rannoch, Etieve, Ness and Tarbat. More info
4 Gold
Although you may be surprised that this popular commodity did not make it in the top 3, make no mistake that Gold is still very popular. And this is evident by the amount of new businesses offering to buy your old gold jewelry for cash. There was a surge in the amount of investors looking to invest in gold in 2011 as they began to grow more fearful of the value of paper money. However, unlike gas or oil, Gold has very little usefulness aside from being nice to look at. More info
3 Natural Gas
Just like Crude oil, natural gas is extremely versatile. It’s used for everything from heating water to lighting. Russia and Norway are among the biggest natural gas exporting countries in the world. And according to the Natural Gas Supply Association, the demand for gas is set to increase by 8.3 percent this summer! More info
2 Coffee
Thanks to the U.S. and Europe, coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world right now. On average, Americans consume over $4 billion of coffee each year and that number seems to only be going up from there. Starbuck’s annual sales have been going up over the past few years reaching over $11 million in 2011. So it’s safe to say that coffee is a hot item right now in more ways than one. More info
1 Crude Oil
It should come as no surprise that Crude oil tops the list of the most traded commodities. We tend to automatically associate oil with gasoline, but there are plenty of other uses that make oil so popular. It’s used as a heating source, plastic, and synthetic fibers just to name a few. The various uses of crude oil help explain why it’s so popular right now. More info
So the next time you’re looking to invest in the next big technological advancement, take it back to the basics. Commodities are often times safer bets as we generally cannot live without them and this list is proof of that.