Description: This is
a VOA Special English Economics Report.
See text below
Text:
Commodities are basic materials that are used and
traded worldwide. The price of commodities helps
determine how much a business can charge for a
product and the profit it can make. Commodity prices
have reached a two-year high since falling sharply
during the world financial crisis. Hard commodities
are materials like iron ore, oil and gold.
Agricultural products are soft commodities. These
include wheat, cotton and rice.Economic measures
show the world economy is recovering unevenly. China
and India, for example, have reported strong growth
in manufacturing. Developed nations have had slower
growth. John James is a business professor at Pace
University in New York State. He says demand in
developing economies can push up prices for
commodities like oil and iron ore used for making
steel. But, he says, changing currency values can
also influence prices.He says the increase in the
price of commodities is a reflection of the
instability of both the euro and the dollar. The
best example of that is gold.Gold prices have
reached record levels in recent months. That means
gold dealers must pay more for the commodity now
than they did only a year ago. That affects current
prices. Not surprisingly, manufacturers want some
control over the prices they pay for commodities.
Futures contracts are agreements between a buyer and
a seller to exchange something at a set price at
some time in the future. These contracts let buyers
lock in a price for basic materials.But some traders
in futures markets only want to make a profit. They
buy or sell contracts depending on the direction
they believe prices will go. These speculators get
blamed when prices rise, or fall, too quickly. The
United States, Germany and France are looking into
ways to limit this kind of trading. Some experts say
exporting commodities is not a good path to
long-term economic growth. The United Nations
recently reported that the least developed countries
must change their economies to provide good incomes
for their citizens.Supachai Panitchpakdi leads the
UN development group UNCTAD. He says the least
developed countries need to cut dependence on
commodities and manufacture products for export. He
says only this will let them gain from world trade.
For VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
To post a comment:
• Click "Comment using..." in
the window below
• Click your favorite service: Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail
• Login to the service
• Click "Add a comment..."
• Post your comment in the window
Students: Please post a
comment stating what you found interesting about this video. You are
welcome to include links to your English study blogs and any
other materials you think might be useful for learning
English.
Teachers: Please post your
thoughts about this video. You are welcome to include links to
your sites, blogs, and any other materials you think might
be useful for learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
