Theme of the lecture №3. Commodity exchanges and auctions in international trade

Thesis:

Commodity exchanges, or futures exchanges, are, like stock exchanges, membership organizations. Their mission is to provide a suitable place where members trade commodities (futures) or options on futures in a controlled, orderly manner. The exchange itself is not a principal to any futures transaction, nor does it trade for its own account. Except for developing, publishing, and enforcing trading rules, including the establishment of daily price limits to ensure fair and equal treatment for all market participants, the exchange does nothing to determine prevailing prices in the market.

A commodities exchange is an exchange where various commodities and derivatives products are traded. Most commodity markets across the world trade in agricultural products and other raw materials (like wheat, barley, sugar, maize, cotton, cocoa, coffee, milk products, pork bellies, oil, metals, etc.) and contracts based on them. These contracts can include spot prices, forwards, futures and options on futures. Other sophisticated products may include interest rates, environmental instruments, swaps, or ocean freight contracts.

An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder. In economic theory, an auction may refer to any mechanism or set of trading rules for exchange.

The word "auction" is derived from the Latin augeō which means "I increase" or "I augment".

A stock exchange is a form of exchange which provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and dividends. Securities traded on a stock exchange include shares issued by companies, unit trusts, derivatives, pooled investment products and bonds.

Literature: 1-36.

Theme of the lecture №4. Agricultural markets: markets of the food and agricultural raw materials

Thesis:

The global trade of food is a diverse and complex operation and one in which most countries strive to take part. Governments recognize that a strong national food industry is an important supplier of food to the population and a significant contributor to food security. They also view food exports as an important source of foreign exchange. The expansion and diversification of the food trade can be attributed to many factors. First, the disciplines of food microbiology, food chemistry and food technology are continuously providing a broader range of foods by developing new and more sophisticated preservation, processing and packaging techniques which make foods safer, less perishable and more attractive to the consumer. Second, rapid transport and improved handling methods have reduced the length of time and difficulties associated with moving food long distances, thus allowing traders access to new and far-away markets. Third, consumers' tastes and food habits have become more varied and their incomes and purchasing power have risen, stimulating the demand for traditional and new foods from other regions.

Agriculture, also called farming or husbandry, is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and other life forms for food, fiber, bio fuel and other products used to sustain human life. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the development of civilization. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science. Agriculture generally speaking refers to human activities, although it is also observed in certain species of ant and termite. The word agriculture is the English adaptation of Latin agricultūra, from ager, "a field", and cultūra, "cultivation" in the strict sense of "tillage of the soil".

Intermediate goods or producer goods or semi-finished products are goods used as inputs in the production of other goods, such as partly finished goods. Also, they are goods used in production of final goods.

Land management - the grazing of livestock is sometimes used as a way to control weeds and undergrowth. For example, in areas prone to wild fires, goats and sheep are set to graze on dry scrub which removes combustible material and reduces the risk of fires.

Literature: 1-36.