Read more
XTB Online Trading

Commodities (definitions)

Related subjects:
Commodities Glossary
Reading time: 3 minute(s)
Learn all the important definitions you need to understand to enter the world of commodity trading in this article.

ZERO COMMISSION FOR STOCKS AND ETFS INVESTING

*For monthly turnover up to 100,000 EUR (then comm. 0.2%, min. 10 EUR). 0.5% currency conversion cost may apply. The financial instruments we offer are risky. Invest responsibly.

Open account
  • Energy resource is something that can produce heat, move objects, or produce electricity. The energy sector includes corporations that primarily are in the business of producing or supplying energy, such as fossil fuels or renewables.
  • Types of oil - two oil benchmarks are most commonly traded on the financial markets: Brent and WTI. Nevertheless, there are more types of oil, depending on its properties or the place of its extraction. Price also depends on its properties, location or transport. 
  • Oil stock changes - similar to other assets, the laws of supply and demand make a huge impact on oil prices. When supply exceeds demand, prices fall; the reverse is also true when demand outpaces supply. Therefore, traders are paying close attention to the release of oil stocks data. The two most popular reports are API and EIA. API’s Weekly Statistical Bulletin (WSB) reports total US and regional crude inventories and data related to refinery operations, as well as the production, imports, and inventories of the four other major petroleum products: motor gasoline, kerosene jet fuel, distillate fuel oil, and residual fuel oil. The Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Crude Oil Inventories measures the weekly change in the number of barrels of commercial crude oil held by US firms.
  • OPEC is a permanent intergovernmental organization of 13 oil-exporting developing nations that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its Member Countries, namely Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC controls almost 80% of the world's supply of oil reserves. The cartel sets production levels to meet global demand and can influence the price of oil and gas by increasing or decreasing output.
  • Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value as gold, silver, palladium and platinum. In the past, they were used as a basis for money, but today they are mainly used by traders to diversify their portfolios and as a hedge against inflation.
  • Industrial metals are primarily used for construction and industrial purposes and are often more abundant in nature and sometimes easier to mine. Unlike precious metals, base metals tend to tarnish, oxidize, or corrode over time or when exposed to the elements. Examples of industrial metals include copper, steel, aluminum, lead, and zinc.
  • Agricultural and food products, sometimes called soft commodities, refer to items such as cotton, grains, cattle, and, yes, pork bellies. Agricultural products are among the most valuable commodities and starting material to produce various food constituents. Agricultural productivity is important not only for a country's balance of trade, but the security and health of its population as well.
  • Commodities rollovers - most Commodities CFDs are based on future contracts, which means they are subject to monthly or quarterly 'Rollovers'. The future contracts on Commodities markets normally expire after 1 or 3 months. Therefore, brokers must switch (rollover) CFD price from the old contract to the new futures contract. Sometimes the prices of old and new futures contracts are different, so brokers must perform a Rollover Correction by adding or deducting a one-time only swap credit/charge on the trading account at rollover date to reflect the change in market price. The correction is completely neutral for the net profit on any open position.
  • Seasonality is the characteristic of a time series in which data are subject to regular and predictable changes that repeat each calendar year. Any predictable fluctuation or pattern that repeats over a period of one year is treated as seasonal. Seasonality may be caused by various factors, such as weather, vacation, and holidays and consists of periodic, repetitive, and generally regular and predictable patterns in the levels of a time series.
  • Balance sheets or production-demand reports are datasets published by a number of governmental and private institutions which measure supply and demand for given commodity or commodity groups and have the potential to substantially alter market expectations about current and future commodity market conditions and are, therefore, closely watched by market participants. The most popular reports include US Department of Agriculture (USDA) which covers a number of agricultural products and weekly EIA and API releases on US crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories.

ZERO COMMISSION FOR STOCKS AND ETFS INVESTING

*For monthly turnover up to 100,000 EUR (then comm. 0.2%, min. 10 EUR). 0.5% currency conversion cost may apply. The financial instruments we offer are risky. Invest responsibly.

Open account

Related articles

1 minutes
Closing Price

Read more
8 minutes
Commodities

Read more
5 minutes
Gold Trading - How to Start Gold Trading Online

Read more

If you are looking for more

Commodities Indices Technical analysis Stocks Fundamental analysis CFDs ETFs Platform Glossary Guides ABC of Investing XTB Services Become a Trader

Join over 1 000 000 XTB Group Clients from around the world

Start trading Download the app Download the app
The financial instruments we offer, especially CFDs, can be highly risky. Fractional Shares (FS) is an acquired from XTB fiduciary right to fractional parts of stocks and ETFs. FS are not a separate financial instrument. The limited corporate rights are associated with FS.
This page was not created for investors residing in Brazil. This brokerage is not authorized by the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) or the Brazilian Central Bank (BCB). The content of this page should not be characterized as an investment offer in Brazil or for investors residing in that country.
Losses can exceed deposits

We use cookies

By clicking “Accept All”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.

This group contains cookies that are necessary for our websites to work. They take part in functionalities like language preferences, traffic distribution or keeping user session. They cannot be disabled.

Cookie name
Description
SERVERID
userBranchSymbol cc 25 October 2024
test_cookie cc 24 October 2024
adobe_unique_id cc 24 October 2025
__hssc cc 24 October 2024
SESSID cc 2 March 2024
__cf_bm cc 24 October 2024
intercom-id-iojaybix cc 21 July 2025
intercom-session-iojaybix cc 31 October 2024
xtbCookiesSettings cc 24 October 2025
TS5b68a4e1027
countryIsoCode
xtbLanguageSettings cc 24 October 2025
userPreviousBranchSymbol cc 24 October 2025
TS5b68a4e1027
intercom-device-id-iojaybix cc 21 July 2025
__cf_bm cc 24 October 2024
__cfruid
__cfruid
__cf_bm cc 24 October 2024
__cf_bm cc 24 October 2024
_cfuvid
adobe_unique_id cc 24 October 2025
_cfuvid
TS5b68a4e1027
xtbCookiesSettings cc 24 October 2025
SERVERID
TS5b68a4e1027
__hssc cc 24 October 2024
test_cookie cc 1 March 2024
__cf_bm cc 24 October 2024
_cfuvid
_cfuvid
__cf_bm cc 24 October 2024
__cf_bm cc 24 October 2024

We use tools that let us analyze the usage of our page. Such data lets us improve the user experience of our web service.

Cookie name
Description
_gid cc 9 September 2022
_gat_UA-98728395-1 cc 8 September 2022
_gat_UA-121192761-1 cc 8 September 2022
_gcl_au cc 22 January 2025
_ga_CBPL72L2EC cc 24 October 2026
_ga cc 24 October 2026
__hstc cc 22 April 2025
__hssrc
_vwo_uuid_v2 cc 25 October 2025
_ga_TC79BEJ20L cc 24 October 2026
_vwo_uuid cc 16 October 2025
_vwo_ds cc 15 November 2024
_vwo_sn cc 16 October 2024
_vis_opt_s cc 24 January 2025
_vis_opt_test_cookie
af_id cc 23 February 2025
afUserId cc 25 January 2026
af_id cc 24 January 2026
AF_SYNC cc 1 February 2024
_ga cc 24 October 2026
_gid cc 25 October 2024
_ga_CBPL72L2EC cc 24 October 2026
__hstc cc 22 April 2025
__hssrc
_ga_TC79BEJ20L cc 24 October 2026
_gcl_au cc 22 January 2025
AnalyticsSyncHistory cc 31 March 2024

This group of cookies is used to show you ads of topics that you are interested in. It also lets us monitor our marketing activities, it helps to measure the performance of our ads.

Cookie name
Description
MUID cc 18 November 2025
_omappvp cc 6 October 2035
_omappvs cc 24 October 2024
_uetsid cc 25 October 2024
_uetvid cc 18 November 2025
_fbp cc 22 January 2025
fr cc 7 December 2022
_ttp cc 22 January 2025
_tt_enable_cookie cc 22 January 2025
_ttp cc 22 January 2025
hubspotutk cc 22 April 2025
IDE cc 10 November 2025
YSC
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE cc 22 April 2025
hubspotutk cc 22 April 2025
_omappvp cc 11 February 2035
_omappvs cc 1 March 2024
_uetsid cc 25 October 2024
_uetvid cc 18 November 2025
_ttp cc 22 January 2025
MUID cc 18 November 2025
_fbp cc 22 January 2025
_tt_enable_cookie cc 22 January 2025
_ttp cc 22 January 2025
li_sugr cc 30 May 2024
guest_id_marketing cc 24 October 2026
guest_id_ads cc 24 October 2026
guest_id cc 24 October 2026
muc_ads cc 24 October 2026
VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA cc 22 April 2025
MSPTC cc 18 November 2025
IDE cc 18 November 2025
MSPTC cc 18 November 2025

Cookies from this group store your preferences you gave while using the site, so that they will already be here when you visit the page after some time.

Cookie name
Description
bcookie cc 24 October 2025
lidc cc 25 October 2024
UserMatchHistory cc 31 March 2024
bscookie cc 1 March 2025
li_gc cc 22 April 2025
bcookie cc 24 October 2025
li_gc cc 22 April 2025
lidc cc 25 October 2024
personalization_id cc 24 October 2026

This page uses cookies. Cookies are files stored in your browser and are used by most websites to help personalise your web experience. For more information see our Privacy Policy You can manage cookies by clicking "Settings". If you agree to our use of cookies, click "Accept all".

Change region and language
Country of residence
Language

Changing the language affects the change of regulator