1. Alexandra Laurent Expert – Commodities Branch, Infocomm program Trade Information Seminar, Methods and Resources for the Management of Trade Information Services: November 27 th 2006

2. MARKET INFORMATION : Findings Asymmetry of market information in the commodities area Need to implement an analytical tool to enable interested stakeholders to assess the changes in market structures and adjust their policies in a dynamic ways as well as enhance their competitiveness, 1.Sources of market information are dispersed and not always well organized, 2.Governments and other stakeholders are facing with various market information flows (in electronic format, in particular) – not always checked.

3. Contents I.INFOCOMM II.INFOSHARE III.To keep in mind

4. INFOCOMM INFOCOMM Market Information in the Commodities Area - www.unctad.org/infocomm 4 entries per commodity group: Agricultural products, Minerals, ores & metals, Energy, Tropical beverages. Final coverage: About 40 commodities in 3 languages (English, French and Spanish) Beneficiaries: Various stakeholders (POs, traders, exporters, processors, etc.) Governments, Academia.

5. INFOCOMM INFOCOMM Market Information in the Commodities Area - www.unctad.org/infocomm Jute, Shea nuts, Nickel, Palladium, Platinum, Spices, Rice, Sugar, Tobacco, Tea, Cotton, Natural gas, Petroleum, Zinc. Citrus fruits, Cashew nuts, Bananas, Timber, Cocoa, Iron ore/steel, Wheat, Olive oil, Profiles available and updated in December 2006 Profiles to be posted in the coming weeks Rubber, Copper, Coffee.

6. INFOCOMM INFOCOMM Market Information in the Commodities Area - www.unctad.org/infocomm Ten harmonized entries covering all aspects and fundamentals of commodity market, Market information, friendly tables and diagrams, interactive maps. Partnership Market report LANGUAGE

7. INFOCOMM INFOCOMM Market Information in the Commodities Area - www.unctad.org/infocomm Example of diagram available on Infocomm Monthly market report: COTTON latest forecasts and story behind the figures). (Production, consumption, exports, imports, inventories: latest forecasts and story behind the figures). Parallel movements in cotton prices (Cotlook A-Index, US cents/lb) and net exports from China

8. 2004 : International year for rice. Infocomm took this opportunity to launch its first partnership. In this context, Infocomm publishes, on a monthly basis and for free, a market report on rice (in English, French and Spanish). Partnership on cotton (ICAC) Partnership on citrus fruits (Fruits trop.) Partnership on banana (Fruits trop.) 2005 2004 Partnership on tropical timber (ITTO) 2006 INFOCOMM INFOCOMM Market Information in the Commodities Area - www.unctad.org/infocomm

9. Objectives for 2007/08 Updating commodity profiles already available on-line ; Enlargement of the range of commodities available on Infocomm ; Implementation of new partnerships to enhance market transparency ; Market intelligence and Capacity building, especially for partners ; A special emphasis on new electronic tools such as Infoshare (a sharing database implemented within the framework of Infocomm) or other instruments of market analysis (CD on cocoa). INFOCOMM INFOCOMM Market Information in the Commodities Area - www.unctad.org/infocomm

10. Contents I.INFOCOMM II.INFOSHARE III.To keep in mind

11. A tool which enables partners to collect information on: 1.Prices (prices paid to producers, export prices, import prices, futures prices, auction prices, local market prices, etc.), 2.Costs (inputs, domestic transportation, storage, inspection, licence fees, etc.), 3.Quantities sold by grade, 4.Various quality standards, 5.List of exporters, 6.Interest rates in the marketing chain, 7.Other specific data. INFOSHARE To collect, analyse and disseminate market information

12. 1.Tailor-made database, 2.Facilitation of the data collection and entry, 3.Ease the analysis and interpretation of the data, 4.Ease the dissemination of the data, 5.Information more reliable and based on market conditions. INFOSHARE To collect, analyse and disseminate market information A tailor-made database

13. Infoshare selected as one of the « 10 stories the world should hear more about » by the United Nations in 2005 INFOSHARE To collect, analyse and disseminate market information Following the first steps initiated in 2005 with Cameroonian authorities (ONCC), the pilot modified according to domestic conditions version has been launched on November 7th 2006.

14. Contents I.INFOCOMM II.INFOSHARE III.To keep in mind

15. 1.Information should be available to all stakeholders, 2.Equal access to market information among stakeholders Market transparency enhanced better bargaining power for small actors Agreement more easily reached and more satisfying, 3.Needs to access market information are even more important and more difficult especially in a liberalized environment where prices are fluctuating and in the context of specific market conditions (monopsony, oligopsony). INFOCOMM / INFOSHARE To keep in mind To have access to market information is crucial to stakeholders and especially to small producers.

16. INFOCOMM / INFOSHARE The final objective

17. INFOCOMM INFOCOMM Market Information in the Commodities Area - www.unctad.org/infocomm Contacts (About Infocomm e-portal) Alexandra LAURENT alexandra.laurent@unctad.org (About Infoshare sharing database) Olivier COMBE olivier.combe@unctad.org (Market concentration & competition) Irene Musselli Moretti irene.musselli@unctad.org (General requests) infocomm@unctad.org