Methodology

How we source, standardize, and verify every data point.

Our mission

Build the most complete and reliable commodity dataset on earth — prices, trade flows, and suppliers any company can read, cite, and act on.

Auditable by design

Every value is auditable on request, so you can see exactly where any number comes from. Have a question about a specific figure? Ask us.

Where our data comes from

We source and standardize from the primary public sources for every commodity we cover:

  • Official statistical publications from international financial and development institutions
  • Exchange settlement prices and public auction results
  • Customs import and export declarations reported to international trade bodies
  • Official releases from national agricultural ministries and marketing boards
  • Producer, exporter, and trade association publications
  • Certification registries and commodity standards bodies
  • Central bank reference exchange rates
  • Information suppliers publish about their own operations

Reference prices

Each commodity carries one headline reference price for a pinned specification and market, republished from established public reference series at that series' own cadence — monthly or weekly — and always labeled reference, never assessed. Every price page states its as-of period. Eligible forecasts are derived from the published reference series and disappear when their inputs become stale.

Trade data

Trade figures come from annual customs declarations at the six-digit HS level, following the reporting country's side of each flow. Export and import totals for the same product rarely reconcile exactly — a routine mirror asymmetry from re-exports, valuation basis, and reporting lags, not an error. Where a major exporter has not yet reported the latest year, its absence is stated on the page rather than papered over.

Supplier directory

Every listed company is a real trading business, and each field on its row — certifications, founding year — comes from what that company publishes about itself, never from a secondary aggregator. Fields we could not source are left blank rather than filled in. A row is marked Verified only once its details have been checked against a current quote or a verifiable trade filing, so an unmarked row is a listing, not a verification. Stale rows are re-checked or delisted, not left showing an old number.