Commodity prices

Commodity price publications and databases

Financial Times

The Financial Times publishes tables of commodity prices in the print edition of the newspaper from Monday to Friday each week.

The Guildhall Library in London holds the FT from 1888 onwards on microfilm.

The tables for the last five years are available from the FT data archive (subscription required). 

EIU World Commodity Forecasts

The Economist Intelligence Unit offers a subscription service for monthly World Commodity Forecasts which 'provide comprehensive analysis of the fundamentals influencing commodity prices and detailed price forecasts up to two years ahead for 25 commodities.' 

World Bank

The World Bank website has a section dedicated to Commodity Price data which includes monthly updates on price movements and forecasts.

In addition to the monthly publications, the World Bank provides access to the GEM Commodities database, which contains information on monthly prices and indices from 1960 to the present.

International Monetary Fund

The IMF publishes monthly reports on Primary Commodity Prices.

ICAEW

The Farming and Rural Business Group publishes Key Farm Facts, a monthly digest of agricultural statistics including milk and livestock prices. Find out how to join the group.

IHS Markit 

Food Commodities Market publishes price data, news and analysis of over 700 agricultural commodities. Registration is required.

Original sources for commodity price data

There are a wide range of trade bodies and publications which provide commodity prices in individual sectors. The list below highlights a small selection of these organisations.

International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO)
The International Cocoa Organisation publishes a range of statistics and reports, some of which require subscription. The price data available includes the ICCO Daily Prices of Cocoa Beans and ICCO Monthly Averages of Daily Prices, as well as a Monthly Review of the Market which reports on cocoa price movements on the international markets.

International Coffee Organisation (ICO)
The International Coffee Organisation publishes current and historical data on coffee prices.

International Energy Agency
The International Energy Agency provides free and subscription based price data through the IEA statistics section on their website.

International Grains Council
The International Grains Council (IGC) provides some data free of charge, such as the IGC weekly Grains and Oilseeds Prices Index but other reports require a subscription.

International Rubber Study Group
The International Rubber Study Group provides quarterly price statistics free of charge. In-depth price data and forecasts are available for a charge.

International Sugar Association
The International Sugar Association provides sugar prices for the current month. Other reports are available for a charge.

International Tea Committee
The International Tea Committee compiles and publishes statistics for the tea trade. Statistical reports are available for a charge.

London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)
Historic prices are given for gold, silver and platinum and palladium at the bottom of the pricing and data page. The LBMA gold bullion price is now administrated by the ICE Benchmark Administration who provide archive and current prices. Silver prices are administrated by Thomson Reuters and CME Group.

London Metal Exchange
The London Metal Exchange provides free access to prices for the current month and historical price data by month for the current year (registration required) . Price data for previous years is available from the LME for a charge.

Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
OPEC gives daily, weekly, monthly and yearly data for the OPEC basket price. Other data is given for production, oil reserves, market indicators and taxes on oil.