Primary commodities in international trade / by J.W.F. Rowe.

Includes index.

Part I, The production of primary commodities : 1. The principal primary commodities in international trade and their sources of supply -- 2. The structure and organisation of production.

Part II, The organisation of marketing : 3. The principal consuming markets -- 4. The physical processes of marketing -- 5. The determination of prices -- 6. The behaviour of prices.

Part III, General trends and fluctuations of international trade since World War I : 7. The inter-war period -- 8. The period 1939-50 -- 9. The period 1950-64.

Part IV, Commodity control schemes : 10. Evolution and development of commodity control schemes to 1929 -- 11. The crisis of 1930 and government interventions -- 12. The new control schemes of the 1930's -- 13. Control schemes since 1945 -- 14. The mechanics of commodity control -- 15. The recent progress and future prospects of commodity control.

"The book is divided into four parts. In the first part the author explains the basis on which he has selected certain primary products for particular study and describes the organisation of production of these commodities. In the second part he draws attention to the processes of marketing and price determination. The function of producers' co-operatives and national marketing boards is discussed and there is a clear description of the practice of 'hedging', and the operation of the futures market. The appendix to Chapter 5 consists of a particularly important discussion of the economics of private merchanting versus government bulk trading. The third part of the book comprises an historical study of trends and fluctuations in international trade in primary products in the period 1918-64 and of the international problem of how to stabilise their prices. Part four deals with commodity control schemes and emphasises the important role which these have come to play in the arrangements which governments or groups of governments make for their economic relations with other governments and groups. The final chapter indicates the change in ideas on the nature and functions of commodity control which has recently been taking place, especially since 1960." -- From the back cover.