The commodity futures markets known as the food group include two important non-food crops: cotton and timber. Futures contracts on the regulated commodity exchanges are a way to get positioned to trade fibers.

The uses of cotton and timber overlap is some interesting and unexpected ways. The substitution value of these commodities help regulate price movement. For example:

Cotton is not only used for textiles. It is also used by the paper industry. Paper made from cotton fiber is valued because it lasts longer and holds up better over time than paper made from wood fiber.

Timber refers to the wood content of a living tree. Timber is not only used for construction purposes. The wood pulp can also be used for fiber production by the textile industry. Rayon, which is made from wood pulp competes with cotton fiber.