Information you may be able to locate through trade associations and trade journals: methods of manufacture, technical information and data, quality control, product characteristics/properties, government regulation, information on supply and demand, pricing insight.
Trade associations represent a specific industry or profession. Often you can find information about the industry, it's products, and major players through trade association website. Some websites share data and trends, stances on government regulation, and other issues, and white papers around products. You can locate associations by using a search engine and searching keywords.
Trade journals are journals which focus on issues around a particular industry. You can locate trade journals by searching suggested article databases on the Articles & Statistics tab.
Major Commodity Exchanges
Other Commodity Resources Online
Database Resources
The CRB commodity yearbook
The Bloomberg database provides to access to valuable information for managing purchasing or procurement including news, economic statistics, commodity pricing, futures markets, and other tools useful for analyzing the supply chain.
