Update Schedule
How often is the price data updated?
All price assessments are updated monthly, on a fixed cycle: data from governmental sources is collected during the last week of the month, then processed, validated, and published at the beginning of the following month.
This cadence applies to every subscription plan and every industry covered by Primary Commodity Prices — plans differ in when in that month you receive the release, not in how often data is produced.
Why the cycle is monthly, and what causes an official source to lag its own reporting calendar, is set out in How often are assessments published, and when released? and When is data collected, and what causes reporting lag? on our methodology site.
When exactly are new prices published each month?
The release day each month depends on your subscription plan:
Advanced and Ultimate subscribers receive data up to five business days earlier than Starter subscribers — a meaningful lead time for teams acting on fresh price intelligence for procurement or commercial planning.
Release timing is one of the key differentiators between plan levels, alongside access to longer price histories and additional delivery methods.
Can I use this data as a real-time price feed?
Primary Commodity Prices is a monthly dataset and is not suited for use as a real-time price feed. Each data point reflects international trade transactions aggregated over the course of a month, published once at the beginning of the following month.
Monthly data works well for evaluating transaction prices, benchmarking procurement performance, identifying price trends, and supporting investment analyses. It may not capture sharp or sudden price movements during periods of high volatility.
For these reasons, monthly Intratec data should not be used as the sole reference for real-time pricing, or as the primary index for structuring supplier-consumer contracts. When you need real-time price tracking, use our data alongside other market intelligence sources.
Why a monthly aggregate is the right basis for this kind of assessment — and where its limits lie — is discussed in Are the prices suitable as a sole contract reference? on our methodology site.
Are previously published values ever revised?
Yes. The most recent months in a series may first publish as provisional (Preliminary) figures, and are replaced by consolidated Final figures once the underlying official statistics arrive. Forecast values are also updated each month as new market fundamentals are incorporated.
This is normal operation rather than error correction: it keeps the data both timely and consistent with verified sources as they catch up.
What triggers a revision, and where every change is announced, is documented in What causes a published number to be revised? and Where are changes to published data announced? on our methodology site.
Data Statuses Explained
How are data statuses like "Preliminary" defined?
Every data point in a price series carries one of three status labels — Final (Fi), Preliminary (P), or Forecast (F) — visible in online charts and data exports, so you can judge the reliability of each value before using it in an analysis, report, or procurement model.
The full definition of each label is set out in What do the Final, Preliminary, and Forecast labels mean? on our methodology site.
What does a "Forecast" status mean for a data point?
A Forecast (F) value is a forward-looking estimate rather than a figure derived from observed trade data. Forecasts cover a rolling 6-month horizon and are updated each month as new market information is incorporated.
Because they are projections, treat them as a directional indicator rather than a precise prediction.
What your plan includes: Forecast (F) data is available to Pro, Advanced, and Ultimate plan subscribers.
How forecasts are produced, and which datasets carry them, is covered in Which datasets include forecasts, and how far ahead? and How are forecasts produced in plain terms? on our methodology site.
What is a "Final" value and when does it replace earlier ones?
A Final (Fi) value is derived from consolidated official statistics, and it is the most reliable form of a data point. A value first published as Preliminary is recalculated and replaced by its Final figure once the relevant official data is released.
There is no fixed timeline for that transition — it depends on when each country's statistical agency publishes its trade reports.
A price assessment for a given month might appear as Preliminary in the first release, then update to Final two or three months later once the underlying government trade data is published.
What moves a figure from one label to the next is documented in What moves a figure from Preliminary to Final? on our methodology site.