What is a futures contract size?

It is the fixed quantity of the underlying commodity that one standard futures contract controls. For example, one crude oil contract covers 1,000 barrels, so a one-dollar move in price changes the contract value by 1,000 dollars.

Why are commodities quoted in unusual units?

Each commodity uses the unit its physical trade has always used — barrels for oil, troy ounces for precious metals, bushels for grain, pounds for copper. Exchanges standardised contracts around these traditional units.

What is a troy ounce?

A troy ounce is the standard unit for precious metals and equals about 31.1035 grams, slightly heavier than the everyday avoirdupois ounce of 28.35 grams. Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are all priced per troy ounce.

How big is a grain bushel by weight?

A bushel is a volume measure, so its weight depends on the grain. A bushel of wheat or soybeans is about 60 pounds, corn about 56 pounds, and oats about 32 pounds. Grain futures cover 5,000 bushels per contract.

How current is this data?

Contract specifications change rarely but exchanges do occasionally revise them or add mini and micro contracts. Confirm the exact specification on the exchange's contract page before trading.

What is the Commodity Trading Unit Reference?

Searchable reference table of standard futures contract sizes and units for major commodities — crude oil, gold, wheat, copper, natural gas and more — with the exchange, quote unit, and contract size for each. It runs free in your browser on Gera Tools, with nothing uploaded.

Commodity Trading Unit Reference

Name: Commodity Trading Unit Reference
Creator: Gera Tools
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Commodity contract sizes and units

This reference lists the standard futures contract size and quote unit for the world’s major traded commodities, grouped into energy, metals, and agriculture. Knowing the contract size is essential because it converts a price move into a dollar move: it tells you exactly how much of the physical commodity one contract controls.

How it works

A futures contract fixes a quantity of a commodity at a standardised unit. Your exposure on a single contract is the price times that quantity:

contract value = price per unit × contract size

For example, crude oil is quoted in dollars per barrel and one contract is 1,000 barrels, so at 80 dollars a barrel the contract is worth 80,000 dollars and a one-dollar move is worth 1,000 dollars. Precious metals trade in troy ounces, grains in bushels, and base metals like copper in pounds — each commodity keeping the unit its physical trade has always used.

Major contracts by group

Energy

Crude Oil (WTI) — traded on CME/NYMEX, 1,000 barrels per contract, quoted in USD per barrel. At $80/barrel the contract is worth $80,000 and a $1 price move is worth $1,000.
Natural Gas (Henry Hub) — 10,000 MMBtu per contract. Gas price moves are volatile and the large contract size means even small price swings create significant dollar exposure.
Brent Crude — traded on ICE, 1,000 barrels, the international benchmark. Typically trades at a premium or discount to WTI based on grade and geography.

Precious Metals

Gold (COMEX) — 100 troy ounces per standard contract. At $2,000/oz the contract is worth $200,000. Mini-gold contracts (33.2 oz) and micro-gold (10 oz) are available on CME for smaller positions.
Silver (COMEX) — 5,000 troy ounces. Silver is far more volatile than gold by percentage and the large contract size amplifies that.
Platinum and Palladium — 50 troy ounces each on NYMEX; far less liquid than gold and silver.

Agriculture

Corn, Wheat, Soybeans — all trade on CBOT in 5,000-bushel contracts. A bushel of corn is approximately 56 pounds, wheat 60 pounds, soybeans 60 pounds.
Coffee (Arabica) — ICE contract of 37,500 pounds (one bag is 132 lbs; contracts cover roughly 284 bags).
Cocoa — ICE, 10 metric tonnes per contract.
Sugar No. 11 — ICE, 112,000 pounds (raw sugar), quoted in cents per pound.

Base Metals

Copper (COMEX) — 25,000 pounds per contract, quoted in cents per pound. High industrial demand means copper often tracks global economic activity.
Aluminum and Nickel — primarily traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME) in metric tonne contracts; CME also offers copper and aluminum futures.

Dollar value of a one-cent / one-dollar move

For quick sizing, the “DV01” for commodity contracts:

Commodity	Contract size	Value of $1 move	Value of 1¢ move
Crude oil	1,000 bbl	$1,000	$10
Natural gas	10,000 MMBtu	$10,000	$100
Gold	100 troy oz	$100	$1
Corn	5,000 bu	$50	$0.50
Copper	25,000 lbs	—	$250

Tips and notes

Sort by Group to compare contract sizes within energy, metals, or agriculture before sizing a position.
The quote unit and the contract unit are usually the same, but always multiply price by contract size to get true dollar exposure per contract.
Many of these commodities now also list mini and micro contracts at a fraction of the standard size; this table shows the full-size standard contract.
Contract specifications change occasionally; confirm the exact size and tick value on the exchange’s official contract spec page before trading.