From corn to copper, these 10 commodities have surged in 2021 amid an unprecedented economic recovery

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  • Inflation has been the talk of the markets lately amid a resurging economy, and consumers are just beginning to feel the heat.
  • Fed chair Jerome Powell has said inflation is "transitory," but a number of experts disagree.
  • From corn to copper, these ten commodities have all jumped double digits in 2021 alone.
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After holding at an annual rate of 1.4% in January and 1.7% in February, inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, surged to 2.6% in March.

Inflationary pressures have been the talk of Wall Street for some time amid a resurgent economy and a record influx of cash from the Federal Reserve and the Biden administration, but now that its effects are beginning to reach Main Street, concerned experts are sounding the alarm.

While Fed chair Jerome Powell has said that inflationary pressures are "transitory" and will come to an end, not every expert agrees.

In Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting, Warren Buffet said "we are seeing substantial inflation. We are raising prices. People are raising prices to us, and it's being accepted."

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Mohamed El-Erian, the chief economic advisor at Allianz and the president of Queen's College, Cambridge, said that he believes inflation is not "transitory" in a recent interview.

El-Erian argued the Fed has backed itself into a corner by relying on an outcome-based approach and not taking into account the plethora of examples of inflation.

"You just cited examples, I can cite examples, Warren Buffett talked about 'very substantial' inflationary pressure. Price increases are sticking, according to him and many others," El-Erian said.

The Queen's College president and long-time Fed watcher added that he believes it's time for Powell to start discussing the "tapering" of aggressive asset purchases.

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Secretary of the Treasury, and former Fed chair, Janet Yellen went a step further on Tuesday and said the fed might even want to consider raising interest rates in an economic seminar presented by The Atlantic.

With all of this in mind, Insider took a look at rising commodity prices since the start of 2021 and the findings speak for themselves. From copper to lumber, the price of raw goods is inflating and those costs are set to be passed onto the consumer.

Here's a look at how 10 commodities have performed since the beginning of 2021.

All performance metrics were taken as of May 6, 2021, between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. ET.

Lumber

Year-to-date performance: +87%

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lumber chart
Markets Insider

Coffee

Year-to-date performance: 19%

coffee chart
Markets Insider

Cotton

Year-to-date performance: +10%

Cotton chart
Markets Insider

Aluminum

Year-to-date performance: +25%

aluminum chart
Markets Insider

Iron Ore

Year-to-date performance: +22%

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Iron ore chart
Markets Insider

Lean Hog

Year-to-date performance: +63%

lean hog chart
Markets Insider

Corn

Year-to-date performance: +59%

Corn chart
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Soybeans

Year-to-date performance: +21%

soybeans chart
Markets Insider

Copper

Year-to-date performance: +28%

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Copper chart
Markets Insider

Wheat

Year-to-date performance: +16.7%

wheat chart
Markets Insider

MI Exclusive Warren Buffett Mohamed El-Erian
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