Commodities

From QED

Commodities Table

The Commodities table contains commodity categories and their corresponding SITC.

This includes 93 commodity categories and an aggregate category of all commodities. The 93 commodity categories were chosen as a set covering many of the material needs of (modern) life: food, clothing, shelter, machines, and energy. The aggregate category “all commodities” is the reported total including all possible commodity categories, not just an aggregate of the 93 chosen for this database.

The classification system used in WTA is the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC), Revision 2. The 93 categories included in the Mapping Globalization Database range between one-digit “sections” and four-digit “subgroups”. Classifications with the same number of digits are completely distinct, while those with a greater number of digits will be embedded in the parent categories. (For more information on the SITC system and a link to a complete online SITC rev. 3 listing, similar but not identical to rev. 2, see SITC from Duke University).

Incomplete Data

Despite the UN efforts to encourage countries to follow the suggested guidelines for reporting trade information, each country reports with varying levels of specificity. This is why the categories "Unknown Partner" or "NES” (not elsewhere specified) or “Other” arise. Some countries do not report exports to every single country/area/territory/economic entity. Statistics Canada estimates the level of trade for non-specified areas by matching reported imports from those areas. Sometimes, however, it is not possible to reconcile these unknown quantities using this method. Hence, "Unknown Partner", "NES”, and “Other” remain as placeholders in the resultant database.

Limitations of Available Data

At the most detailed level available (subgroups), the selection of commodity categories was occasionally limited by the amount of available data. Most often the lack of available information had minor consequences: e.g. bananas were not available so oranges were selected instead. However, some categories of interest were not available for one of two reasons.

• The commodity code desired was too specific (e.g. semiconductors are 6-digit SITC codes and World Trade Analyzer only drills down to 4-digits).
• The commodity code for that product was recent enough that there was not data available for all three years. In other words, new technological innovations require new commodity codes as they gain significant market share. So, these categories were excluded.

For a list of the Mapping Globalization trade commodity categories, see Commodities List.