Soft commodity
 |
|---|
A soft commodity (aka "the softs") is a commodity such as sugar, cocoa and coffee that is grown and not mined. Cotton, orange juice and grains are also sometimes referred to as "soft products."
ICE Futures US[edit]
The most active softs commodity markets in the U.S. in coffee, sugar and cocoa are offered for trading at ICE Futures U.S., formerly the New York Board of Trade.
NYMEX[edit]
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, soft commodities were listed with cash-settled contracts. Examples of commodity contracts include NYMEX cocoa (CJ), coffee (KT), cotton (TT), and sugar #11 (YO) futures contracts. These contracts are available for trading almost 24 hours a day on the CME's Globex® electronic trading platform. All NYMEX and COMEX clearing members may trade and clear these products.
NYMEX's cocoa futures have a trading unit of 10 metric tons and are quoted in U.S. dollars per metric ton with a minimum price increment of not less than $1.00 per metric ton. They trade with a March, May, July, September and December cycle for 23 months.
NYMEX's coffee futures have a trading unit of 37,500 pounds and are quoted in U.S. dollars per pounds. The minimum price fluctuation is $.0005 per pound. They trade with a March, May, July, September, and December cycle for the next 23 months.