The global economy tends to be very cyclical, meaning it is prone to alternating periods of boom and bust. The four stages of an economic cycle are expansion, peak, contraction (also known as recession), and trough, followed by another expansion to mark the beginning of a new cycle. A typical economic cycle lasts about 5.5 years, although some are quite short (as little as 18 months) and others span more than a decade.
A supercycle is defined as a sustained period of expansion, usually driven by robust growth in demand for products and services. Economic supercycles tend to produce strong, sustained demand for raw and manufactured materials, such as metals and plastic, that exceeds what commodity producers can supply. Supercycles, which are also good for stock prices, are often associated with long-term periods of growth for the commodity markets.