Helios offers export, wholesale and farmgate cash/spot price forecasting & historical prices for 50+ fresh commodities & its derivatives.
Prices are sourced mainly from public sources and various government websites, such as the USDA or the EU Commission.
Our historical prices start in 2020 and are updated daily, ensuring they are as up to date as possible.
Price Units of Measure
You are able to switch between different units of measure for prices. The options currently available are USD/kilogram, USD/pound, or USD/metric ton. You can update your default unit of measure in your account settings. Regardless of your default setting, you can change the unit whenever you want.
Export vs. Wholesale vs. Farmgate
Helios splits prices into 3 categories: export, wholesale, and farmgate.
Farmgate Price
What it is: also known as “direct from producer”, “producer price” or “farmer prices”. Farmgate price is what the farmer receives for their produce when sold directly at the farm's location, without including post-farm costs.
What it includes: Product in raw form (grain, olives, fruit, etc.). No transport, packaging, storage, or processing costs beyond getting it out of the farm gate.
Wholesale Price
What it is: The price of the commodity when traded within the domestic supply chain, before it reaches export or retail.
What it includes: Handling, packaging, and/or storage costs (ex-silo, ex-factory, ex-packaging station). Local delivery to warehouses, processors, or traders. Sometimes margin from first buyers or intermediaries.
Export Price
What it is: The price of the commodity when it is sold across borders, defined by Incoterms (FOB, CIF, FCA, etc.).
What it includes: Costs of preparing the product for export (e.g., transport to port, loading, insurance depending on term). May or may not include ocean freight and insurance (depends on FOB vs. CIF).
How We Organize Our Price Series
Our price series are organized by origin, variety, terms, market/region, and reporting country. If there is more than one, they are aggregated to give an average.
They are organized from most important to least important:
Origin
Variety
Terms
Market/region (local origin)
Reporting country
Origin is where the item was shipped from or produced. This is different from the country reporting the price, as many countries will import crops.
Example: If the Netherlands is importing Cocoa from Ghana, the origin country is Ghana.
If you are looking at the average of more than one country’s average price, it is considered the “Average of all origins”.
Variety is the type of crop you are looking at. Not all commodities have varieties, and varieties can include fresh crops and derivatives such as oils, animal feed, meals, and more. It can also include different types and versions of fresh crops, such as specific breeds of tomato or organic vs. non-organic.
If you are looking at a country’s “price”, you are most likely looking at the average of all varieties. All individual varieties have their own price series, but they are underneath their “origin”.
Terms explain how the commodity is being delivered. It differs between export prices and wholesale/farmgate prices.
For export: A “term” is made up of the type of delivery (FOB, EXW, CFI) and then the location is which it’s coming from. Examples: FOB Brazil Ports, CIF Poland, FCA Truck Eure & Loir, DDU Rouen
For Wholesale & farmgate: A “term” is made up of whether the item is imported or domestic, and then the stage the item is at, such as shipping point or terminal market. If a market name is available, it will be listed as well.
Market/region is specific to the country level and explains local origins within the country if available. If a price is specific to a particular location, it will be noted here.
Reporting country refers to the country reporting the actual price, not necessarily where the goods ended up. It is specific to Wholesale and farmgate only.
Example: Every once in a while you will see a country reporting a price for another country, so Italy could be reporting on the price of apples in Germany.