Where do coffee, cocoa, sugar and cotton come from?

Softs covers cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa, coffee, pepper, sugar, tea, tobacco, vanilla. What moves them together: Tropical weather and disease, currency of the big exporter (real, cedi, rupiah), smallholder economics, stocks held by trading houses, certified stocks at exchanges.

What stands out across softs?

Among the 9 commodities in softs with a production ranking, supply is most concentrated in cloves, where Indonesia produced 74% of the world total in 2024, and least concentrated in sugar, where the largest producer, Brazil, produced 22% in 2023. China is the largest producer of 3 of the 9. In 4 of them the largest producer is not the largest exporter by value, as for cinnamon, where China produced 38% and Vietnam led exports of cinnamon (HS 0906) with 28%. Production years differ by commodity and sources are FAOSTAT, USGS or the Energy Institute; exports are CEPII BACI trade records.

In the twelve months to September 2026, 1 of 5 priced commodities in this category had a higher benchmark price, with the largest rise for sugar (+17%) and the largest fall for coffee (-17.8%). These are monthly benchmark series in their own units, from the World Bank Pink Sheet, IMF or other sources named on each price page, and a twelve-month change says nothing about what comes next.

Commodities in this category

Softs commodities with top producers and latest prices
Commodity	Top producers	Latest price	12 months
Cardamom An aromatic seed pod harvested green and dried; FAOSTAT counts it together with nutmeg and mace.	Share of world cardamom production: Guatemala 39%, India 27%, Indonesia 21%, Rest of world 13%. Guatemala 39%, India 27%, Indonesia 21% (2024)	—	—
Cinnamon The dried inner bark of Cinnamomum trees, sold as true cinnamon from Sri Lanka or the cheaper cassia.	Share of world cinnamon production: China 38%, Vietnam 29%, Indonesia 23%, Rest of world 9.8%. China 38%, Vietnam 29%, Indonesia 23% (2024)	—	—
Cloves Dried flower buds of a tropical tree, most of the crop going into Indonesian kretek cigarettes rather than food.	Share of world cloves production: Indonesia 74%, Madagascar 13%, Tanzania 4.3%, Rest of world 8.7%. Indonesia 74%, Madagascar 13%, Tanzania 4% (2024)	—	—
Cocoa Fermented, dried seeds of the cacao tree, ground into liquor, butter and powder to make chocolate.	Share of world cocoa production: Ivory Coast 36%, Indonesia 12%, Ghana 10%, Rest of world 42%. Ivory Coast 36%, Indonesia 12%, Ghana 10% (2024)	$5.92/kg Cocoa (ICE New York and London average)	-16%
Coffee Seeds of the Coffea plant, traded green (unroasted) and then roasted close to where it is drunk.	Share of world coffee production: Brazil 30%, Vietnam 18%, Colombia 7.5%, Rest of world 44%. Brazil 30%, Vietnam 18%, Colombia 8% (2024)	$7.26/kg Arabica (ICE New York, other milds)	-18%
Pepper The dried berry of a tropical vine, the most traded spice by both weight and value.	Share of world pepper production: Vietnam 28%, India 14%, Brazil 13%, Rest of world 45%. Vietnam 28%, India 14%, Brazil 13% (2024)	—	—
Sugar Sucrose crystallized from sugar cane (four-fifths of supply) or sugar beet; traded raw (No. 11) and refined white (No. 5).	Share of world sugar production: Brazil 22%, India 20%, Thailand 5.5%, Rest of world 52%. Brazil 22%, India 20%, Thailand 5% (2023)	$0.41/kg World raw sugar (ISA daily price)	+17%
Tea Leaves of Camellia sinensis, withered, rolled, oxidized and dried, then sold at auction or by contract.	Share of world tea production: China 50%, India 19%, Kenya 8.2%, Rest of world 23%. China 50%, India 19%, Kenya 8% (2024)	$2.85/kg Average of three auctions	-3%
Tobacco Cured leaf of the tobacco plant, traded green or processed into strip before it is made into cigarettes.	Share of world tobacco production: China 37%, India 12%, Brazil 11%, Rest of world 40%. China 37%, India 12%, Brazil 11% (2024)	$6,775/t US import unit value, unmanufactured	-4%
Vanilla The cured seed pod of a climbing orchid, hand-pollinated and cured over months; the second most expensive spice.	Share of world vanilla production: Madagascar 43%, Indonesia 21%, Mexico 7.2%, Rest of world 28%. Madagascar 43%, Indonesia 21%, Mexico 7% (2024)	—	—

Price index since 1960

Beverages indexOther food index

Source: World Bank Commodity Price Data (The Pink Sheet), monthly indices, 2010 = 100, published 2026-10-02. CC BY 4.0.

Indices are monthly averages and lag the market; informational only, not investment advice.

Which softs prices move together?

Within softs, cocoa and coffee are the most closely linked: their monthly price changes correlate at 0.14. Correlation of monthly log price changes (not price levels), computed only over pairs with at least 90 overlapping months, the same method as the site-wide linked-prices report and the correlation calculator — this view is scoped to softs alone, which the site-wide report's top pairs rarely include.

Green: prices that rise and fall together. Brown: prices that move in opposite directions. Thicker and darker lines are stronger correlations.

Data updated 22 October 2026.