Commodity
A commodity is a basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other commodities of the same type. Commodities are most often used as inputs in the production of other goods or services. The quality of a given commodity may differ slightly, but it is essentially uniform across producers. This uniformity allows them to be traded easily, even if they come from different parts of the world.
There are two broad types of commodities: hard commodities and soft commodities. Hard commodities are typically natural resources that must be extracted, such as oil, gold, and lumber. Soft commodities are agricultural products or animals that can be raised and harvested, such as coffee beans, wheat, and cattle.