What it is
The cured seed pods of a climbing orchid. Each flower is pollinated by hand and the pods are cured for months, which makes it one of the most labour-intensive crops there is. Most vanilla flavouring is synthetic; the natural spice is a small, specialised trade.
How it is usually quoted
US dollars per kilogram.
This is the customary unit of the reference market. Other markets for the same commodity may use another unit or currency, and an exchange can change a contract’s terms: its own rulebook is the authority.
Where the reference contract trades
No exchange. Prices are agreed between exporters and the flavour houses that buy from them.
Named for orientation only. Naming an exchange or a market here does not mean that GIO4X gives access to it.
What commonly moves it
- Cyclones in Madagascar
- The years a new vine takes to bear, which delay any response to price
- Export price rules set by the government of Madagascar
- Competition from synthetic vanillin
- The quality of the cure
These are the things people who follow this market usually watch. They explain how the market works; they do not say what the price will do next.
Where it comes from
Madagascar grows most of the world’s vanilla. Indonesia, Uganda, Papua New Guinea, the Comoros and Mexico, its place of origin, follow.
The order of producers changes from year to year, so no quantities or shares are given here.
At GIO4X
Vanilla is not offered as a GIO4X instrument. This page is general education about a market that exists elsewhere, and nothing on it means that GIO4X quotes, trades or gives access to it.
The commodities GIO4X does list are Brent crude, gold, natural gas, palladium, platinum, silver and WTI crude.
Words worth knowing
A reference page. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. It gives no price and no forecast.