Supply Schedules and Supply Curves

Supply Schedule

This is a table or list showing a set of market prices for a commodity and the corresponding set of quantities that would be offered for sale by a firm, other things remaining the same.

The individual supply schedule shows the magnitude of supply at various prices for a producer or firm. The market supply schedule, on the other hand, shows the total quantities offered for sale by all producers or the industry as a whole.

Table: The Supply Schedule for Sugar

Supply Curve

This is a graph (and more technically, a locus of points) that shows the relationship between the quantity supplied of a commodity and the market price when all other factors are held constant. The normal supply curve has a positive slope or slopes upward from left to right showing that more is willingly supplied by firms at higher prices than at lower prices. The supply curve is the graphical representation of the information in the supply schedule (i.e. plotting prices against corresponding quantities supplied).

Figure: The Supply Curve for Sugar