The price of different commodities diverged sharply in the third quarter, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal Thursday.

On one hand, crude oil prices remained range-bound, climbing a mere 1 percent in the quarter, as oil was trapped by fragile demand, large inventories and a weaker U.S. dollar. On the other hand, copper values surged 24 percent on the period boosted by positive economic data.

Concerns about inflation also had gold prices soaring. The precious metal not only broke its 2008 record, but managed to stay above the $1,000-a-troy-ounce level for six trading days—its longest ever.

Sugar hit a 28-year high on falling production by key countries, while natural gas slid 55 percent to its lowest level since 2001, pressured by abundant supplies.

The mix of performance drove significant differences in the performance of various commodity exchange-traded funds, as Brad Zigler of HardAssetsInvestor.com pointed out on our site recently.

You can read the full WSJ article here.