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Commodities exchange

 
 

Organized market for the purchase and sale of enforceable contracts to deliver a commodity (such as wheat, gold, or cotton) or a financial instrument (such as U.S. treasury bills) at some future date. Such contracts are known as futures and are bought and sold in a competitive auction process on commodity exchanges (also called futures markets). The largest futures and futures-options exchange is the Chicago Board of Trade.

For more information on commodity exchange, visit Britannica.com.

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US History Encyclopedia: Commodity Exchanges
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The enormous expansion of markets after 1850 required the formation of organizations that could handle exchanges of commodities on a large scale. The buyers and sellers of commodities in every city and market of large commercial importance formed boards of trade, also known as chambers of commerce. In 1848, buyers and sellers of commodities organized the Chicago Board of Trade. The New York Produce Exchange was organized two years later. By 1854 the Merchants Exchange of Saint Louis had the characteristics of a modern exchange. In 1870 the New York Cotton Exchange came into existence, while the New York Coffee Exchange was organized in 1882.

Bibliography

Ferris, William G. The Grain Traders: The Story of the Chicago Board of Trade. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1988.

Lurie, Jonathan. The Chicago Board of Trade, 1859–1905: The Dynamics of Self-Regulation. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1979.

—Fred M. Jones/A. E.

 
WordNet: commodities exchange
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: an exchange for buying and selling commodities for future delivery
  Synonyms: commodity exchange, commodities market


 
Wikipedia: Commodities exchange
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The floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, a major commodities exchange in the United States.

A commodities exchange is an exchange where various commodities and derivatives products are traded. Most commodity markets across the world trade in agricultural products and other raw materials (like wheat, barley, sugar, maize, cotton, cocoa, coffee, milk products, pork bellies, oil, metals, etc.) and contracts based on them. These contracts can include spot prices, forwards, futures and options on futures. Other sophisticated products may include interest rates, environmental instruments, swaps, or ocean freight contracts.

Commodities trading

Commodities exchanges usually trade futures contracts on commodities, such as trading contracts to receive something, say corn, in a certain month. A farmer raising corn can sell a future contract on his corn, which will not be harvested for several months, and guarantee the price he will be paid when he delivers; a breakfast cereal producer buys the contract now and guarantees the price will not go up when it is delivered. This protects the farmer from price drops and the buyer from price rises.

Speculators and investors also buy and sell the futures contracts to make a profit and provide liquidity to the system.

Commodities exchanges across the world

Main commodity exchanges worldwide:

Americas

Exchange Abbreviation Location Product Types
Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange BMF São Paulo, Brazil Agricultural, Biofuels, Precious Metals
Chicago Board of Trade (CME Group) CBOT Chicago, US Agricultural, Biofuels
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group) CME Chicago, US Agricultural, Biofuels
Chicago Climate Exchange CCX Chicago, US Emissions
HedgeStreet Exchange California, US Energy, industrial Metals
Intercontinental Exchange ICE Atlanta, Georgia, US Energy, Emissions, Agricultural, Biofuels
Kansas City Board of Trade KCBT Kansas City, US Agricultural
Memphis Cotton Exchange Memphis, US Agricultural
Mercado a Termino de Buenos Aires MATba Buenos Aires, Argentina Agricultural
Minneapolis Grain Exchange MGEX Minneapolis Agricultural
New York Mercantile Exchange (CME Group) NYMEX New York, US Energy, Precious Metals, Industrial Metals
U.S. Futures Exchange USFE Chicago, US Energy

Asia

Exchange Abbreviation Location Product Types
Bursa Malaysia MDEX Malaysia Biofuels
Central Japan Commodity Exchange Nagoya,Japan Energy, Industrial Metals, Rubber
Dalian Commodity Exchange DCE Dalian,China Agricultural, Plastics
Dubai Mercantile Exchange DME Dubai Energy
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange DGCX Dubai Precious Metals
Iranian oil bourse IOB Kish Island, Iran Oil, Gas, Petrochemicals
Kansai Commodities Exchange KANEX Osaka,Japan Agricultural
Mercantile Exchange Nepal Limited MEX Kathmandu, Nepal Agricultural, Bullion, Base Metals, Energy
Multi Commodity Exchange MCX India Energy, Precious Metals, Metals, Agricultural
National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd NMCE India Precious Metals, Metals, Agricultural
National Commodity Exchange Limited NCEL Pakistan Precious Metals, Agriculture
Bhatinda Om & Oil Exchange Ltd. BOOE India Agricultural
Karachi Precious Metals, Agricultural
National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange NCDEX Mumbai All
Shanghai Futures Exchange Shanghai Industrial metals, Fuel Oil, Rubber
Singapore Commodity Exchange SICOM Singapore Agricultural, Rubber
Tokyo Commodity Exchange TOCOM Tokyo,Japan Energy, Precious Metals, Industrial Metals, Agricultural
Tokyo Grain Exchange TGE Tokyo,Japan Agricultural
Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange CZCE Zhengzhou,China Agricultural

Europe

Exchange Abbreviation Location Product Types
Commodity Exchange Bratislava, JSC CEB Bratislava, Slovakia Emissions, Agricultural
Climex CLIMEX Amsterdam, the Netherlands Emissions
NYSE Liffe Europe Agricultural
European Climate Exchange ECX Europe Emissions
London Metal Exchange LME London, UK Industrial Metals, Plastics
Risk Management Exchange RMX Hannover, Deutschland Agricultural
European Energy Exchange EEX Leipzig, Germany Energy, Emissions

Oceania

Exchange Abbreviation Location Product Types
Australian Securities Exchange ASX Sydney, Australia Agricultural

See also


 
 

 

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
US History Encyclopedia. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Commodities exchange" Read more