--- title: "Commodity Futures Exchanges" url: https://contrarian-investor.com/commodity-futures-exchanges description: "Commodities are bought and sold on commodity futures exchanges. They are different than stock exchange but they work the same way. Instead of a trading paper." published: 2026-08-10 updated: 2026-08-10 --- # Commodity Futures Exchanges Published 2026-08-10 Commodities are bought and sold on commodity futures exchanges. They are different than stock exchange but they work the same way. Instead of a trading paper representing ownership of a company, you trade contracts representing ownership of commodities. Commodity futures exchanges make it possible for you to buy things like wheat and corn without having go to your local farmer and wait for his harvest. The commodities bought and sold on the commodity exchange are called contracts. The contracts are standardized with a fixed amount of a particular commodity to make trading easy. Commodity futures exchanges were originally created by merchants to make it easy to buy and sell commodities. The futures exchange give merchants and industry the ability to buy commodities at current prices and take delivery of products in the future. This reduces risk and volatility and allows them for long term planning without having to worry about fluctuations in commodity prices. The investors that buy and sell contracts to make a profit on the futures exchange also serve a vital role. Investors add liquidity to the market and make it possible to buy commodities anytime without having to wait for a seller or a buyer to show up. Stocks follow indexes such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P500 but the commodities have their own index. One of the oldest and most watched indexes is the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index which dates back to 1957. Just like the DJIA it has gone through many revisions. New commodities have been added to keep it current with world commodity demand. Seasoned commodity traders refer to the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index more than any other indexes when discussing commodities. Other commodity indexes include Goldman Sachs S&P GSCI, The DOW Jones-UBS commodity index, UBS Bloomberg constant maturity commodity index, and investment legend Jim Rogers called Rogers International Commodity Index (RICI) among others. | Commodity Exchange | Symbol | |---|---| | Chicago Board of Trade | CBOT | | New York Mercantile Exchange | NYMEX | | The Intercontinental Exchange | ICE | | London Metal Exchange | LME | | Australian Securities Exchange | ASX | | Singapore Commodity Exchange Limited | SICOM | | Euronext | | ### Major commodity future exchanges throughout the world Chicago Mercantile Exchange CME | Commodity | Contract Size | Main Exchange | Symbol | |---|---|---|---| | Corn | 50 tons | EURONEXT | EMA | | Oats | 5000 bu | CBOT | O/ZO (Electronic) | | Rough Rice | 2000 cwt | CBOT | RR | | Soybeans | 5000 bu | CBOT | S/ZS (Electronic) | | Rapeseed | 50 tons | EURONEXT | ECO | | Soybean Meal | 100 tons | CBOT | SM/ZM (Electronic) | | Soybean Oil | 60,000 lb | CBOT | BO/ZO (Electronic) | | Wheat | 5000 bu | CBOT | W/ZW (Electronic) | | Cocoa | 10 tons | 1ICE | CC | | Coffee | 37,500 lb | ICE | KC | | Cotton | 50,000 lb | ICE | CY | | Sugar | 112,000 lb | ICE | SB | | Orange Juice | 15,000 lbs | ICE | FCOJ-A | ### Agricultural Commodities Corn 5000 bu CBOT C/ZC (Electronic) | Commodity | Contract Size | Main Exchange | Symbol | |---|---|---|---| | Frozen Pork Bellies | 40,000 lb (20 tons) | CME | PB | | Live Cattle | 40,000 lb (20 tons) | CME | LC | | Feeder Cattle | 40,000 lb (20 tons) | CME | FC | ### Livestock and meat Commodities Lean Hogs 40,000 lb (20 tons) CME LH | Commodity | Contract Size | Main Exchange | Symbol | |---|---|---|---| | Brent Crude | 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) | ICE | B | | Ethanol | 29,000 U.S. gal | CBOT | AC (Open Auction) ZE (Electronic) | | Natural Gas | 10,000 mmBTU | NYMEX | NG | | Heating Oil | 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) | NYMEX | HO | | Gulf Coast Gasoline | 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) | NYMEX | LR | | RBOB Gasoline | 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) | NYMEX | RB | | Propane | 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) | NYMEX | PN | ### Energy Commodities WTI Crude Oil 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) NYMEX, ICE CL (NYMEX), WTI (ICE) | Commodity | Contract Size | Main Exchange | Symbol | |---|---|---|---| | Platinum | 50 troy oz | NYMEX | PL | | Palladium | 100 troy oz | NYMEX | PA | | Silver | 5000 troy oz | NYMEX | SI | ### Precious Metals Commodities Gold 100 troy oz NYMEX GC | Commodity | Contract Size | Main Exchange | Symbol | |---|---|---|---| | Lead | 25 metric tons | LME | PB | | Zinc | 25 tons | LME | ZN | | Tin | 5 tons | LME | SN | | Aluminium | 44000 pounds | LME, NYMEX | AL | | Nickel | 6 tons | LME | N | | Uranium | 250 pounds | NYMEX | UX | ### Industrial Metals Commodities Copper 25000 pounds LME, NYMEX HG | Commodity | Contract Size | Main Exchange | Symbol | |---|---|---|---| | Palm Oil | 1000 kg | Bursa Malaysia | MPO-BMD | | Wool | 1 kg | ASX | WOW | | Polypropylene | 1000 kg | LME | PP | | Linear Low Density Polyethylene | 1000 kg | LME | LL | ### Other Commodities Rubber 1 kg SICOM RSS3 [Return to Commodity Investing](https://contrarian-investor.com/commodity-investing.html) [Return to Home page](https://contrarian-investor.com/)