The Most Traded Food and Beverage Commodities

Seafood is the most popular food commodity traded in the world, with fish topping the traded food/ beverage commodity list in 2013 followed by soybeans and wheat, while coffee was the most traded beverage. This article lists the world's ten most traded food and beverage commodities based on estimated trade value for 2013.

Fish

Fish was the world's single-most traded food commodity. The estimated global fish export volume during the year marginally increased to 57.8 million tonnes.

Global fish production is dominated by developing countries such as China, which alone accounts for more than 30% of the total fish output, while Norway leads farm salmon production.

China is also the biggest exporter of fish, followed by India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam are among the world's biggest shrimp exporters.

Soybean

Soybean was the second-most traded food commodity in the world.

Global soybean output during the year was 280 million tonnes, mostly produced by the US followed by Brazil and Argentina. Approximately 240 million tonnes of soybeans were crushed worldwide during the year. China alone crushed more than 65 million tonnes.

China is the biggest importer of soybeans, followed by the EU and Mexico.

Wheat

Wheat was the third-biggest food commodity traded in the world.

The EU, followed by China, is the biggest producer of wheat. China, which consumed approximately 125 million tonnes of wheat during 2013, was the world's biggest wheat consumer.

The US was the largest exporter of wheat and associatedwheat products, followed by the EU. Egypt, which imported around 10 million tonnes in 2013, was the world's biggest wheat importer.

Palm Oil

Palm oil was the world's fourth-biggest traded food commodity in 2013.

India continued to be the biggest consumer of palm oil.

Indonesia, with an annual production of more than 30 million tonnes in 2013, was the world's biggest palm oil producer followed by Malaysia and Thailand. India continued to be the biggest consumer of palm oil.

Beef and Veal

Beef and veal are among the most traded food commodities.

Total beef and veal production exceeded 58 million tonnes in 2013 led by Brazil, which produced more than nine million tonnes of beef, followed by the EU and China. Brazil, followed by the EU and China, was the world's biggest beef consumer.

Brazil exported more than 1.8 million tonnes of beef in 2013, making it the biggest beef exporter followed by India and Australia. The US States and Russia imported more than one million tonnes per year each making them the world's biggest beef importers.