Soft commodity Soft commodity Soft commodities, or softs, are commodities such as coffee, cocoa, sugar, corn, wheat, soybean, fruit and livestock. The term generally refers to commodities that are grown, rather than mined; the latter (such as oil, copper and gold) are known as hard commodities. Soft commodities play a major part in the futures market. They are used by farmers wishing to lock-in the future prices of their crops, by commercial purchasers of the products, and by speculative investors seeking a profit. Sometimes the term "soft" is restricted to commodities which are identified as primarily tropical, such as coffee, cocoa, sugar,
Commodity broker CPO, as well as their RCR/APs, are required to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and be members of the National Futures Association (NFA). Floor brokers/traders who are members or employees of a commodity exchange generally do not need to be members of the NFA, as they are regulated by the exchange. Commodity brokers can trade commodities on various exchanges, which specialize in trading a certain commodity type. The common commodity exchanges include the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) that trades in a variety of commodities, Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) that trades in wheat, rice, soybeans, oats,