The cost of goods has the same units as the cost of shipping: $/kg. Referencing between them lets you understand how the economy works, e.g. why construction material sourcing and drink bottling has to be local, but oil tankers exist.
An iPhone costs $4,600/kg, about the same as SpaceX charges to launch it to orbit. [1]
Beef, copper, and off-season strawberries are $11/kg, about the same as a 75kg person taking a three-hour, 250km Uber ride costing $3/km.
Oranges and aluminum are $2-4/kg, about the same as flying them to Antarctica. [2]
Rice and crude oil are ~$0.60/kg, about the same as $0.72 for shipping it 5000km across the US via truck. [3,4] Palm oil, soybean oil, and steel are around this price range, with wheat being cheaper. [3]
Coal and iron ore are $0.10/kg, significantly more than the cost of shipping it around the entire world via smallish (Handysize) bulk carriers. Large bulk carriers are another 4x more efficient [6].
Water is very cheap, with tap water $0.002/kg in NYC. But shipping via tanker is also very cheap, so you can ship it maybe 1000 km before equaling its cost.
It’s really impressive that for the price of a winter strawberry, we can ship a strawberry-sized lump of coal around the world 100-400 times.
[1] iPhone is $4600/kg, large launches sell for $3500/kg, and rideshares for small satellites $6000/kg. Geostationary orbit is more expensive, so it’s okay for GPS satellites to cost more than an iPhone per kg, but Starlink wants to be cheaper.
The cost of goods has the same units as the cost of shipping: $/kg. Referencing between them lets you understand how the economy works, e.g. why construction material sourcing and drink bottling has to be local, but oil tankers exist.
An iPhone costs $4,600/kg, about the same as SpaceX charges to launch it to orbit. [1]
Beef, copper, and off-season strawberries are $11/kg, about the same as a 75kg person taking a three-hour, 250km Uber ride costing $3/km.
Oranges and aluminum are $2-4/kg, about the same as flying them to Antarctica. [2]
Rice and crude oil are ~$0.60/kg, about the same as $0.72 for shipping it 5000km across the US via truck. [3,4] Palm oil, soybean oil, and steel are around this price range, with wheat being cheaper. [3]
Coal and iron ore are $0.10/kg, significantly more than the cost of shipping it around the entire world via smallish (Handysize) bulk carriers. Large bulk carriers are another 4x more efficient [6].
Water is very cheap, with tap water $0.002/kg in NYC. But shipping via tanker is also very cheap, so you can ship it maybe 1000 km before equaling its cost.
It’s really impressive that for the price of a winter strawberry, we can ship a strawberry-sized lump of coal around the world 100-400 times.
[1] iPhone is $4600/kg, large launches sell for $3500/kg, and rideshares for small satellites $6000/kg. Geostationary orbit is more expensive, so it’s okay for GPS satellites to cost more than an iPhone per kg, but Starlink wants to be cheaper.
[2] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000711415. Can’t find numbers but Antarctica flights cost $1.05/kg in 1996.
[3] https://www.bts.gov/content/average-freight-revenue-ton-mile
[4] https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities
[5] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1232861/tap-water-prices-in-selected-us-cities/
[6] https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Total-unit-shipping-costs-for-dry-bulk-carrier-ships-per-tkm-EUR-tkm-in-2019_tbl3_351748799