Quinoa, Chenopodium quinoa

Quinoa was an important food source since 4-3000 BC in South America. It looks like a grain but in fact its a relative of sugar beets and  spinach. Leaves of quinoa are widely used  by growers, but they have a limited commercial availability and value. Quinoa is an undemanding and altitude-hardy crop, but does not bring large yields. Average yield is about 700 kg per hectare.  Also, the harvest is uneven so  it takes a lot of effort  to collect it.
Only 68 964 tons were produced worldwide in 2009. Biggest producer is Peru with 39 998 tons (2009). Biggest producer per capita is Bolivia with 2.7 kg in 2009.
World production in 2009 grew 19.5% due to growing demand  for quinoa in USA and high grain prices  in 2008. Nevertheless only  10.1 grams of quinoa were available to a potential consumer in 2009.  Lowest production since 1961 was  15 613 tons in 1968, highest  was the record of 2009.
Quinoa is a very good food, it contains 16-20% of protein of the highest quality, it has twice as much iron as wheat and almost as much phosphorus as sea fish (up to 3 times more than the  best sorts  of rice).

World crop of  quinoa of 2009 could feed 347 654 people at 2000 calories a day, or an entire population of  Bahamas islands.
Quinoa  as of now sells for $2500-3000 a ton. World crop is about $170-175 mln worth.
My main sources are fao.org. usda.gov. cia.gov, alibaba.com


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Production of quinoa by country
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	item	2007		2008		2009
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Quinoa	26601		27169		28276
Ecuador	Quinoa	690		690			M
Peru	Quinoa	31824		29867		39998
World + (Total)	Quinoa	59115		57726	A	68964	A

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Gold, Oro, Geld, Золото

golden stater of Alexander the Great

Gold has been mined and used for well over 6000 years. Global production in 2009 was 2572 tons. China is a major gold producer  since 2007. Australia is the biggest producer per capita, with 10.19 grams produced per citizen in 2009. Globally, only 377.7 milligrams  were available per potential consumer. India is a biggest gold buyer in the world, they bought 400 tonnes in 2008, 559 tonnes in 2009 and 624 t in 2010 (that's 522 mg per each Indian). Cube, made out of the gold produced in 2009 would be 5.11 meters high. Sheet of metal , beaten out of it could cover a country like Luxembourg. As of today, it'd be worth (at $1376/ounce) staggering $113.8 billion dollars. Nevertheless, only 10-12% of all gold is used for non-bullion/non-jewelry  purposes.

1. China: 313.98 mt

2. Australia: 227.00 mt
3. United States: 216.00 mt
4. South Africa: 204.92 mt
5. Russia: 205.00 mt
6. Peru: 180mt (estimate)
7. Indonesia: 90.00 mt
8. Canada: 95.00 mt (estimate)
9. Ghana 90.20 mt
10. Uzbekistan 80mt (estimate)
Other: 854mt
TOTAL: 2572mt

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All crops, metals and minerals

I love  researching commodities and intend to create a blog-encyclopedia dedicated to all commodities, including some rare ones most people never heard of. I plan to make a small page for each commodity, which will include production rates by country, exports/imports by country, etc. Please support me by following my blog and giving your feedback.


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