全球商品价格创2年来新高

    This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。

    Commodities are basic materials that are used and traded worldwide. The price of commodities helps determine how much a business can charge for a product and the profit it can make. Commodity prices have reached a two-year high since falling sharply during the world financial crisis.
    商品是全球贸易与使用的基本原料。商品价格可以帮助一个企业判定产品如何定价,能得到多大利润。自金融危机以来,商品价格已达到近2年新高。

    Hard commodities are materials like iron ore, oil and gold. Agricultural products are soft commodities. These include wheat, cotton and rice.
    硬商品包括铁矿石、石油和黄金等原料。农产品是软商品,包括小麦,棉花和大米。

    Economic measures show the world economy is recovering unevenly. China and India, for example, have reported strong growth in manufacturing. Developed nations have had slower growth.
    经济量化显示全球经济正不平衡复苏。例如,中国和印度制造业强劲增长,而发达国家增长缓慢。

    John James is a business professor at Pace University in New York State. He says demand in developing economies can push up prices for commodities like oil and iron ore used for making steel. But, he says, changing currency values can also influence prices.
    约翰·詹姆斯是纽约佩斯大学的商科教授。他称,发展中国家的需求可能会推高石油、铁矿石等商品的价格。但他表示,改变汇率也会影响价格。

    JOHN JAMES: "The spike in the price of commodities [is] a reflection of the instability of both the euro and the dollar and the best example of that, of course, is gold."
    詹姆斯:“商品价格飙升是欧元和美元不稳定的反应。最好的例子当然是黄金。”

    Gold prices have reached record levels in recent months. That means gold dealers must pay more for the commodity now than they did only a year ago. That affects current prices.
    近几个月,黄金价格已创历史新高。这意味着,仅与1年前相比,交易商现在必须为黄金支付更多,这也影响到当前价格。

    Not surprisingly, manufacturers want some control over the prices they pay for commodities. Futures contracts are agreements between a buyer and a seller to exchange something at a set price at some time in the future. These contracts let buyers lock in a price for basic materials.
    毫不奇怪,制造商希望对他们将购买的商品价格加以控制。期货合约是买卖双方就远期商品交易价格达成的协议。这类合约可以让买家锁定基本原材料价格。

    But some traders in futures markets only want to make a profit. They buy or sell contracts depending on the direction they believe prices will go. These speculators get blamed when prices rise, or fall, too quickly.
    但期货市场的一些交易商只想赚钱,他们根据自己对价格趋势的判断买入或卖出合约。当价格涨跌过大时,这类投机者就受到指责。

    The United States, Germany and France are looking into ways to limit this kind of trading.
    美国、德国和法国正在研究如何限制这种类型的交易。

    Some experts say exporting commodities is not a good path to long-term economic growth. The United Nations recently reported that the least developed countries must change their economies to provide good incomes for their citizens.
    一些专家称,商品出口不是经济长期增长的良好途径。联合国最近报告称,最不发达国家必须改变其经济结构为国民提供良好的收入。

    Supachai Panitchpakdi leads the UN development group UNCTAD. He says the least developed countries need to cut dependence on commodities and manufacture products for export. He says only this will let them gain from world trade.
    素帕猜·巴尼巴迪(Supachai Panitchpakdi)执掌联合国贸易和发展会议。他表示,最不发达国家必须减少其对大宗商品和制造业产品出口的依赖,只有这样,才能使其从国际贸易中受益。