Commodity Origins

Commodity stats: week of 19 October 2026

  1. China is the world's largest producer of tobacco (37% of output in 2024), but Brazil is the largest exporter of unmanufactured tobacco (HS 2401) (20% of world export value in 2024). China is 7th among exporters. Source: CEPII BACI, 2024. Tobacco · China · Brazil
  2. World production of sunflower oil in 2023 was 12 times what it was in 1961: 22.7 million tonnes against 1.9 million tonnes. Source: FAOSTAT, 2023. Sunflower oil
  3. Cocoa is 75% below its inflation-adjusted record of July 1977. Source: World Bank Pink Sheet, deflated by the US consumer price index to 2024 dollars. Cocoa · Real prices
  4. Only 5 countries reported producing mined platinum in 2025, and the largest, South Africa, made 71% of the total. Source: USGS MCS, 2025. Platinum · South Africa
  5. China is the world's largest producer of primary aluminum (61% of output in 2025), but Canada is the largest exporter of unwrought aluminum (HS 7601) (10% of world export value in 2024). China is outside the top 15 exporters. Source: CEPII BACI, 2024. Aluminum · China · Canada
  6. At 2025 mining rates, the world's known tin reserves would last about 21 years. That is a snapshot, not a forecast: reserves are re-estimated as prices change and new deposits are found. Source: USGS MCS, 2025. Tin
  7. World production of sesame seed in 2024 was 5.8 times what it was in 1961: 6.7 million tonnes against 1.2 million tonnes. Source: FAOSTAT, 2024. Sesame seed
  8. The real price of cotton fell 89% between January 1974 and October 2001, and has not climbed back to the old peak. Source: World Bank Pink Sheet, deflated by the US consumer price index to 2024 dollars. Cotton · Drawdowns
  9. The United States bought 32% of world imports of pineapples (HS 080430) by value in 2024. Source: CEPII BACI, 2024. Pineapples · United States
  10. Only 9 countries reported producing cloves in 2024, and the largest, Indonesia, made 74% of the total. Source: FAOSTAT, 2024. Cloves · Indonesia

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Generated 2026-10-19 from the data as it stood then. Prices are monthly benchmark averages and are not investment advice.