Charts showing the movement of commodity prices over the past few months.

A look at how stock markets around the world have fared in 2008.

London cocoa futures hit a 23-year-high as it proves to be the most lucrative commodity in 2008.

The sharp fall in commodity prices pushes firms out of the FTSE 100 index of the UK's largest publicly listed companies.

Ethiopia, Africa's largest coffee producer, starts trading the crop on a national commodity exchange.

Mining giant BHP Billiton calls off its bid for Rio Tinto, blaming falling commodity prices and demands that it sell assets.

Our guide to many of the business terms currently cropping up regularly in the headlines.

Latin American economies are in better shape to withstand the global financial slowdown than in previous years but China's role in helping the region weather economic turbulence is crucial, says the BBC's James Painter.

BBC correspondents look back on a year of rising food costs and ask how people and their governments have coped with the commodity crunch.

Students of today's financial crisis would do well to look back at the bubbles and the economic innovation of the past, writes Lisa Jardine.

Commodities fall amid expectations that a wider downturn in the global economy will dent demand.

Our guide to many of the business terms currently cropping up regularly in the headlines.

From a commodity hunted for its bone and blubber to a potent symbol of the environment, the whale has long held value. And the 150-year-old novel Moby-Dick is remarkably prescient about its fate, says writer Philip Hoare.

The global slowdown will take its toll on growth in developing countries, the UN agency Unctad says.

Hedge fund firm Ospraie Management is closing a leading commodity focused fund following a fall in prices.

Mining giant Rio Tinto sees its half-year earnings more than double thanks to strong demand and high commodity prices.

The price of oil rises more than a dollar, reversing earlier falls, on the back of the weakening dollar.

Mining giant BHP Billiton unveils record annual profits for the seventh year in a row thanks to surging commodity prices.

Commodity prices including gold, copper and aluminium, decline amid fears of slowing demand.

Why reforming the economics of food production and supply would be beneficial for a number of environmental and social ills.