Meaning & use
commodity chain
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountabletechnicalbusiness
The whole series of steps and activities, from getting raw materials to selling a finished product, that a particular good passes through.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a commodity chain' or 'commodity chains'.
Patterns
- a global commodity chain
- the commodity chain for something
- analyze a commodity chain
The coffee commodity chain begins with small farmers and ends with supermarkets.
Researchers traced the commodity chain for smartphones, from mines in Africa to assembly plants in Asia.
Understanding the commodity chain helps explain why prices rise at each stage.
nouncountablebusiness
A network of companies and workers linked by the production and distribution of a specific product, studied to see who gains value.
Grammar: Often used in academic writing: 'the commodity chain approach'.
Patterns
- the commodity chain approach
- map a commodity chain
- a commodity chain analysis
Her thesis uses a commodity chain analysis to show how power is distributed in the garment industry.
The commodity chain approach reveals that most profit goes to brands, not producers.
Word forms
| plural | commodity chains |
|---|
Common combinations
- global commodity chain
- The global commodity chain for cocoa connects farmers in West Africa with chocolate makers in Europe.
- trace a commodity chain
- The documentary traces the commodity chain of a simple T-shirt.
- commodity chain analysis
- Commodity chain analysis is a key method in economic geography.
- the commodity chain for
- The commodity chain for diamonds is often linked to conflict and human rights abuses.
Synonyms and how they differ
- supply chain
- More common in business; it focuses on the flow of goods and services, while 'commodity chain' often emphasizes the social and economic relationships at each stage.
- value chain
- Similar, but 'value chain' highlights how value is added at each step; 'commodity chain' is broader and often used in development studies.
- production chain
- A less technical term for the sequence of production steps; 'commodity chain' is the established academic term.
Word family
- commodity noun
- A raw material or product that can be bought and sold.
- commodification noun
- The process of treating something as a commodity to be bought and sold.
- commodify verb
- To treat something as a commodity.
Commonly confused: commodity chain or supply chain?
commodity chain vs supply chain
Supply chain is the general business term for the system that moves products to customers; commodity chain is a more academic term that often includes social and environmental aspects.
Practice
The study examined the ______ chain for bananas, from plantations to supermarkets.
Choose one answer.
The phrase is 'commodity chain', meaning the whole production and distribution process. 'Commode' is a toilet or chest of drawers, 'commodious' means spacious, and 'commodity's' is possessive, so none fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “commodity chain”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.