ABSTRACT
No one seriously questions the strategic or economic importance of oil either to importers or exporters. But the case for the non-oil primary commodities is less clear cut. Over the past twenty years changes in the structure of world trade reveal a fall in the share of food and raw materials in world exports and imports. For Burundi, Ghana and Zambia over 70 per cent of export earnings come from one commodity. Clearly the fate of such countries is tied to trends and fluctuations in the proceeds from the particular commodities which they export. Probably the major concern is with security of supplies of minerals which are essential to their manufacturing industries but worries about cartel action by LDC suppliers taking a leaf out of the OPEC book have lessened since the 1970s. Trade in primary commodities remains crucial to the prosperity of both rich and poor nations.
