What do the Incoterms FOB, CIF and EXW mean in a commodity price?

Incoterms are the eleven three-letter delivery terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce, currently the Incoterms 2020 edition, and each one sets the point where the seller's costs and risk end and yours begin. When an Incoterm appears in a resource name or in the description underneath it, for example 'Benzene, FOB' or 'Butadiene, CIF', it is telling you how much of the supply chain is already inside that price. The three you meet most often in WTP are EXW, FOB and CIF. They are not three ways of quoting the same number: each one includes a different set of costs, so a higher price under one term does not mean the material itself is more expensive.

Term	What the price includes	Where the seller's risk ends
EXW, Ex Works	The material at the seller's premises, and nothing else. Loading, export clearance and all freight are for the buyer.	At the seller's premises
FOB, Free on Board	The material, inland transport in the export country, export clearance, and loading on board the vessel	Once the goods are on board at the port of export
CIF, Cost, Insurance and Freight	Everything in FOB, plus sea freight and insurance through to the named port of import	Still on board at the port of export, even though the seller pays the freight onward

So 'Benzene, FOB' and a CIF quote for benzene are two different price points for the same molecule. The FOB price is what benzene costs loaded on board at the export port. A CIF price for that same cargo is the FOB figure plus the freight and insurance to bring it to the import port, which is why the CIF number sits higher. The two also belong to different places, FOB to the loading region and CIF to the delivery region, so they can move apart when freight or insurance costs change in a month when benzene itself has not moved.

Tips:

Read the description under the resource name before you compare two series. It names the region, the price basis and the specification, for example `Monthly average FOB price in the United States, specifications: Benzene.`
When you compare an FOB series with a CIF series, part of the gap is freight and insurance rather than material cost. Use 'Show as index' in the 'Price Development Chart' to compare how the two moved instead of what they cost.
Match the Incoterm to your own contract. If you buy on a delivered basis, an EXW series understates your landed cost, because everything from the seller's premises onward still has to be added.

For an explanation of the columns these prices appear in, please see 'How do I interpret the commodity prices?'