commodities prices
In accordance with the classification of the statistical office of the United Nations in the group of commodities include energy resources (oil, coal, etc.), mineral raw materials, agricultural products, fertilisers, non-ferrous metals.
The most important feature of forming of the world commodities prices is that they do not depend on the value of internal costs, but from the actions of other factors. The main of them are:
the ratio of demand and supply at the market of commodities;
the combination of prices of the main producers-exporters and exchange quotations in commodities prices for most commodities;
the multiplicity of the prices of the main producers-exporters (and sometimes and on the stock exchange), which play the role of world money, under the influence of the use of different currencies for the expression of prices, balance disorders supply of and demand for commodities, etc.;
the special role of States or their groups - leading exporters and / or importers of the goods in the formation of world prices. The group of States (the main manufacturers and exporters) function in the form of interstate associations of producers, influencing the formation and the dynamics of world prices. For example, the Association of petroleum exporting countries OPEC, which arose back in the 70-ies. Of the twentieth century, still plays an important role in the shaping of world oil prices.
In most economically developed countries the state one way or another has an impact on commodities prices, and the government often governs even the markets of free competition, and not only through the imposition of taxes, subsidies, but also in other ways.
Generally the policy of the national monopoly supported by the state, which helps in the domestic market to keep a high level of prices (with the help of the guarantee of the producers of the level of selling prices and subsidize the costs of production), and external - a lower level of prices for export commodities to improve the competitiveness of the monopolies.
