jpmschweitzerandClaude Opus 4.6
68867894e9
All 36 commodity stubs fleshed out with lore context, production chain descriptions, and economic intelligence briefing voice. Key treatments: fusion_fuel (D-187 8:1 ratio), services (location-bound mechanics), brands distinguished from commodities per D-185. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2.0 KiB
Water/Volatiles
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Water/Volatiles |
| Tier | raw |
| Elasticity | perfectly_inelastic |
| Base Price (Tractus) | 2 |
| Bulk Class | liquid |
| Unit | tonnes |
| Production Ubiquity | ubiquitous |
| Demand Model | utility |
| Commission Certified | No |
| Compact Contested | No |
| Shadow Viable | No |
| Panic Threshold (weeks) | 1 |
| Description | Water ice, atmospheric gases. Life support critical. Fusion fuel feedstock. |
Water is the foundation commodity. Every inhabited node consumes it continuously — for life support, for agriculture, for industrial processes — and no substitution exists at scale. The Reach's terraformed worlds and station habitats carry water reserves measured in days to weeks of consumption, not months. When supply interrupts, rationing begins within hours.
The commodity's true economic importance is as fusion fuel feedstock. Each tonne of fusion fuel requires eight tonnes of water to refine (D-187). This 8:1 yield ratio turns the physical distribution of water ice across the Reach into a structural determinant of energy costs. Systems with local water surplus — primarily inner corridor worlds with active hydrospheres and ice-rich asteroid belts — carry a permanent fuel-cost advantage over frontier nodes that must import water before they can produce fuel at all.
At base price of 2 Tractus per tonne, water moves in bulk and generates thin margins. The value is not in water itself but in the energy cost differential it creates downstream. A node running a water deficit is quietly running an energy deficit that will manifest in smelting throughput, alloy output, and electronics fabrication costs before the shortage ever shows up in water pricing. Traders who track fuel feedstock availability often see supply chain disruptions before they become visible in the affected commodities.
No Commission certification is required and no shadow market operates. Water is too cheap and too bulky to smuggle profitably.