About these figures

What this is. The latest international prices for the commodities in the IM Global Commodity Markets Update. Each commodity page gives the numbers to quote and a chart to paste. The site is internal to FEWS NET.

Where the monthly numbers come from. They come from the IM data store, the same store the IM Update's fact sheet reads, through the fact sheet's own calculations. A figure here therefore matches the deck. When the store has since moved, for example a World Bank revision or a newer month, the site shows the latest value and marks with † any figure the last IM Update printed differently. Hover over the mark to see the printed value.

Cite the publisher, never this site. Every row names its publisher in "Cite as": the World Bank, FAO, IGC, USDA, EIA or another. FDW relays several publishers' export quotations, and the row names the original.

Provisional values. Some FDW export quotations are shown before FDW marks them Published. Those rows say "provisional, pending FDW publication" and can change when FDW publishes. If the build could not check FDW's publication status, the rows say "status unchecked".

Monthly and daily figures are kept apart. Commodity pages show monthly averages. The Daily and Shipping pages show dated daily observations. The IGC indices are export-quotation indices, not prices. EIA averages differently from the World Bank. So a daily change is never set beside a monthly one.

Not covered daily. No free daily source exists for Europe TTF gas, fertilizer, vegetable oils or metals. Those pages are monthly only.

How fresh.

• Monthly figures are rebuilt after each monthly load of the data store. A page turns amber once the next World Bank Pink Sheet month is overdue.
• Daily series refresh every day. A daily panel turns amber once its newest observation is older than its usual lag plus three business days.

Comparisons.

• MoM: change on the prior month.
• YoY: change on the same month a year earlier.
• vs 5-yr: gap to the average of the same calendar month over the previous five years.
• 12m CV: coefficient of variation over the trailing twelve months.

A comparison shows "n/a" when it is withheld: a redefined series, a forecast month, or missing history.

Questions or a figure that looks wrong: contact the international markets desk.