World Trade in Commodities: Search for Stability

Many developing countries earn practically all their income from the trade of such commodities as cocoa, coffee, sugar, tea, cotton, jute, hard fibers, rubber, copper, and tin. They are consequently very vulnerable to trade fluctuations. The United Nations believes that international buffer stocks or reserve supplies of those ten commodities would help stabilize their prices. Negotiations are under way to establish a Common Fund from which to finance such reserves.
Coffee beans being picked on a coffee plantation in Colombia. Colombia is the second largest coffee exporter in the world. This commodity accounts for 40% of the country's exports. [No exact date]