What are commodities?

You often hear the term "commodity" or commodity brokers, and perhaps you've wondered what that is. The simple example would be agricultural products and basic resources like: iron ore, crude oil, coal, ethanol, sugar, soybeans, aluminium, rice, wheat, gold and silver. As far as word creation, the word commodity came into use in English in the 15th century, derived from the French word "commodité", similar in meaning to "convenience" in terms of quality of services.