October in commodity price history
12 real-price peaks and troughs have fallen in October, in any year since 1960, on the drawdowns report. This page always shows the current calendar month; for every peak and trough in date order, see the full timeline.
Potash: Potash's real price hit its low in October 2024, 79% below its April 2022 peak, and has not recovered since.
Sawnwood: Sawnwood's real price hit its low in October 2022, 64% below its February 2008 peak, and has not recovered since.
Natural gas: Natural gas's benchmark price reached a real (inflation-adjusted) peak in October 2005, before a 93% fall that followed, bottoming out in March 2024.
Lead: Lead's real price hit its low in October 2002, 88% below its June 1979 peak, and has not recovered since.
Cotton: Cotton's real price hit its low in October 2001, 89% below its January 1974 peak, and has not recovered since.
Copper: Copper's real price hit its low in October 2001, 88% below its April 1974 peak, and has not recovered since.
Beef: Beef's real price hit its low in October 1998, 82% below its August 1973 peak, and has not recovered since.
Platinum: Platinum's real price hit its low in October 1998, 81% below its February 1980 peak, and has not recovered since.
Tin: Tin's benchmark price reached a real (inflation-adjusted) peak in October 1978, before a 91% fall that followed, bottoming out in September 2001.
Logs: Logs's benchmark price reached a real (inflation-adjusted) peak in October 1978, before a 64% fall that followed, bottoming out in January 2025.
Palm oil: Palm oil's benchmark price reached a real (inflation-adjusted) peak in October 1974, before a 92% fall that followed, bottoming out in May 2001.
Corn: Corn's benchmark price reached a real (inflation-adjusted) peak in October 1974, before a 85% fall that followed, bottoming out in July 2000.
Method
A peak or trough is the highest or lowest point of a benchmark price in real terms (deflated by the US consumer price index to 2024 dollars) in a series with at least 20 years of history, taken from the drawdowns report. This page filters those dates to the calendar month it is October in when the site was last rebuilt, across every year in the data, so the same commodity can appear more than once if its peak and its trough both happened to fall in October. It says nothing about why a month tends to see more turning points; weather, harvest timing and demand cycles differ by commodity, and the harvest calendar and seasonal drivers are the place to look for that. Prices are monthly averages of benchmark quotes and are not investment advice.