From source to financial context
ACTA DIURNA reporting framework
The context
The 25 commodities form a research priority list rather than a verified league table. Barrels, bushels, tonnes and contract notionals cannot be added into a universal ranking. A producer, trader, processor and logistics company also represent different exposures, even when each is associated with the same commodity.
A spot assessment, daily futures settlement and monthly World Bank reference answer different questions. Every observation retains its benchmark, location, quality, delivery month, currency, native unit and timestamp. A continuous futures series needs a stated roll convention; a contract-switch gap is not automatically an economic price move.
What we track
Definitions and interpretation below describe our coverage. They are not live readings or mechanical buy/sell instructions.
Benchmark price and weekly change
Same product and contract, with comparable observations at both reporting endpoints and a positive comparison denominator.
How to read it: Show absolute changes when a zero or negative price makes a percentage unhelpful. Monthly averages retain their monthly label; they do not become weekly settlements because the publication appears weekly.
Source & methodology ↗Forward curve and physical basis
Near-minus-deferred prices for specified delivery months, and cash-versus-futures differences on compatible units and timestamps.
How to read it: Curve shape can reflect storage, financing, convenience and delivery risk. Backwardation alone does not identify the cause of a shortage or guarantee profitable inventory ownership.
Source & methodology ↗Stocks relative to use
Ending inventories divided by annual use, matched by commodity, crop year, geography and reporting vintage.
How to read it: Separate exportable supply from inventories that cannot readily leave their location. Global and ex-China balances may tell different stories; estimates and subsequent revisions remain visible.
Source & methodology ↗Commercial and exchange inventories
Reported stocks, storage changes, refinery runs or deliverable warehouse balances within the stated system.
How to read it: EIA commercial stocks differ from strategic reserves; exchange warehouses do not contain every tonne worldwide. Registered, eligible, on-warrant and cancelled categories must retain their specific meanings.
Source & methodology ↗Positioning and open interest
Longs minus shorts within one CFTC report type and trader category, optionally divided by compatible open interest.
How to read it: Position dates precede release dates. Contracts measure financial positions, not physical consumption, and categories cannot establish individual traders’ motives or be compared as equal dollar exposures.
Source & methodology ↗Processing margins and operational losses
Product revenues less feedstock and relevant costs using verified processing yields, units and operating assumptions.
How to read it: A refinery crack, soybean crush or power spread is a defined model, not a realized company margin. An outage’s duration and recoverable output matter more than a headline capacity number.
Source & methodology ↗How we cover it
The priority order is crude oil, natural gas, gold, copper, silver, soybeans, corn, wheat, aluminum, iron ore, lithium, coffee, sugar, cocoa, nickel, zinc, coal, cotton, palm oil, platinum, uranium, live cattle, lumber, natural rubber and soybean oil.
Coverage extends to electricity, carbon instruments, livestock and dairy, freight, crop conditions, trade policy, producer decisions and release calendars. Electricity requires location and delivery time; compliance allowances and voluntary carbon offsets remain separate instruments.
What the numbers can miss
A listed contract is not proof of deep liquidity. Futures delivery, options exercise, collateral and bilateral counterparty terms differ, so price coverage alone cannot establish executable hedging economics.
Country and company production rankings require a common statistical year and definition. Missing licensed histories, grade-specific assessments or cargo data remain disclosed gaps rather than estimates disguised as observations.
Sources & editorial context
This guide preserves the original 25-item research priority list. It does not claim an exhaustive global exchange census, a current production ranking or a connected subscription pricing service.
- World Bank — Commodity Markets and Pink Sheet
- CME Group — Markets and contract specifications
- USDA — World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates
- EIA — Weekly Petroleum Status Report
- CFTC — Commitments of Traders
- London Metal Exchange — Metals
Coverage framework informed by the publisher’s Commodities reference discussion. Discussions guide the reporting agenda; factual claims and metrics are checked against the identified source institutions.