Commodity Market News & Insights

How long have you been in commodities?

Since January 1983

How did you get into the commodity markets?

I started out at sea with P&O training as a navigating officer, at the end of my training I came ashore and was offered a job as bunker purchaser with Anderson Hughes (a P&O Company) buying for P&O ships and a consortium of other owners.

What is the core purpose of your current role?

I act as a bunker trader for Alpha Trading, looking for business in ports where Alpha supply bunkers as a physical supplier (in Trieste, Koper and Monfalcone) expanding business with new and existing clients in other ports in Europe, Africa and all ports East of Suez. Assisting Alpha Trading expanding into Marine Biofuels supply from our physical stocks in Italy

What is the biggest changes you have seen in the market throughout your career?

In the last forty years, there have been so many changes, when we started we had prices from 7 major oil companies, which were valid for 6 months at a time, quality was not an issue as most product was straight run from the oil refineries. Now we are looking at a highly volatile market with prices valid for 10 minutes and owners asking for quality certificates to check each and every supply. Over the years we have seen the Majors as the biggest suppliers worldwide, now we see the four major companies supplying in just a few ports where they have their own supply, independent suppliers then took over most of the supply and now we are seeing the ascendency of the big international Commodity traders coming into the bunker market. In the last year or two we have seen the start of a phenomenal change to shipping and bunkers with the start of Alternative Fuels (Biofuels, LNG, Methanol, leading onto Ammonia and Hydrogen), the industry is constantly changing.

What is the most enjoyable part of your Bunker trading role?

Every day is different, you can see the changes noted above, which keeps business exciting, each and every enquiry is slightly different, the ability to travel worldwide to meet suppliers and customer and having hundreds of friends worldwide whom you talk to on a daily basis.

What are the biggest pressures you’ve faced in the Marine Fuels sector?

The biggest pressure are from the quality aspects of the oil which we supply, when I started we just ordered 180cst or 380cst, now we look at all the parameters of the international specifications and parameters outside these too. It has been, for me, very enjoyable to look, learn and understand all the technical aspects of oil quality and assist owners in handling these issues.

What has been the funniest/strangest moment trading bunkers?

In the early days of bunker trading deals were done on the telephone and confirmed by telex, but you got to know the sound of your clients and suppliers voices, whist in Singapore one of my Malaysian suppliers came up behind me and put his hands over my eyes, saying you don’t know who this is do you, I immediately replied yes, its HBY from Ban Hoe Leong, had he walked up in front of me I wouldn’t have known who he was, but just the sound of his voice meant I met an ‘old friend’ whom I had been talking to for years. With business handled over WhatsApp and Skype these days that is much less likely to happen.

What piece of advice would you give to trainees, graduates or juniors looking to go into the commodity markets?

Try and work for a company which allows you full exposure on a worldwide basis, many companies pigeon hole traders to only work one area or one type of client, to allow you maximise your long term potential, try and work all clients and suppliers on a worldwide basis, you can then specialise later in your career if you would like to.

How would you sum up your time in commodities in 3 words?

Exciting, Interesting, Changeable

How long have you been in commodities?

Too long! Coming up to 20 years now.

How did you get into the commodity markets?

I started working with a food manufacturing business in China, dealing with FMCGs, mostly biscuits, cookies and snack foods on the sourcing desk as an assistant. I dealt with negotiating supply contracts with trading houses and producers in Africa/Asia for wheat products, additives, sesame seeds etc. From there I was offered a role with a trading house working on sourcing and origination of cocoa, rice and nuts/seeds from Africa.

What is the core purpose of your current role?

I now manage back to back trading of soft commodity products from our suppliers in Nigeria and West Africa and sell product into end users, processors and manufacturers in Asia and the Middle East. We mostly deal with nuts, seeds and pulses as well as some wheat and rice product.

How relevant do you feel your education was to your latter career?

When I was younger there was limited options that offered a real choice for me for my long term career. I actually didn’t finish my degree as it wasn’t a field I wanted to continue in. I started in a junior position at the foods business and worked my way up from there.

What is the most enjoyable part of your role?

The travel. We are lucky that we are able to meet with our suppliers and customers regularly to negotiate contracts, check on quality and satisfaction which lets us travel to India, China, Nigeria, Dubai, all over really.

What are the biggest pressures you face?

Sometimes when we can’t find a buyer in time when we have product ready to be shipped. It can be time pressured and mean that we have to find a trading house or trading partner to buy the product at a low/no margin which isn’t ideal. As we normally sell directly to end users it feels like a failure to have to offload product anywhere else.

Funniest moment?

In my first ‘real job’ I guess although it wasn’t so funny at the time. We had a production line for a biscuit brand below the office that dealt with the manufacturing on site. We had a containerised shipment of cocoa for this particular line that was delivered once a week which was enough to cover a weeks supply/production. One of my jobs was to maintain relationships with all the suppliers and logistics firms that we used. We had come back after Chinese new year so we had been low on raw materials for 2 or 3 days prior to this delivery turning up. We received a container full of fridges from the port rather than cocoa! Our cocoa went missing and to this day I am not sure if they ever found it, nor if they reunited the fridges with their rightful owners.

What advice would you give to somebody looking at getting into commodities for the first time?

Find a product you have a passion for. Enjoyment from the role comes from dealing with suppliers and customers when you are passionate about what you do.

What 3 words would you use to sum up working in commodities?

Exhausting, Pressure, Rewarding

How long have you been in commodities?

6 Years

How did you get into the commodity markets?

I started in the finance function of a coal procurement desk, managing the day to day accounting and reporting of the business. After 2 years there was an opportunity to move into a junior trading role which I was lucky enough to be allowed to do by my employer.

What is the core purpose of your current role?

I am still managing coal transport and the purchase/sale of thermal coal into Asia. In essence I build relationships with buyers and sellers of thermal coal and meet with power generation companies across APAC.

How relevant do you feel your education was to your latter career?

My entry into commodities was more a situation of circumstance rather than a result of my education. I am a qualified accountant and did a finance degree at university as that was initially what I wanted to do. After joining a commodity firm in a finance function, I began to fall in love with the markets and entered them from there. I think the finance degree helped me in understanding the ins and outs of the trade finance and LC function quicker than I think I would have done, however trading is something totally different to what I expected to go into as a teenager.

What is the most enjoyable part of your role?

Meeting with clients and dealing with interesting people. I find big characters in my role, and meet with some really interesting people. We have an office in Europe as well so often get to meet with traders there, which allows you to travel often and meet with some cool folk.

What are the biggest pressures you face?

The changing markets certainly have a massive impact on my role as a trader. You are constantly at the beck and call of the markets and current events and have to be on the ball to make sure your trades are not adversely affected by changes to the best extent possible. Of course this isn’t always easy, and can contribute high levels of stress to the day to day.

Funniest moment?

I think turning up at the wrong mine when I went on my first sales call alone. It wasn’t funny at the time (except to my colleagues) but looking back it has to be the funniest moment of my career. I ended up on the wrong side of Kalimantan and had to drive over 6 hours to meet with a confused and slightly irritated supplier!

What advice would you give to somebody looking at getting into commodities for the first time?

Motivate, motivate, motivate. Motivate yourself and motivate others around you. You can’t switch off and you have to be 100% on your game at all times and opportunities will open up to you.

What 3 words would you use to sum up working in commodities?

Fun, Stressful, Non-Stop.

How long have you been in Commodities?

15 years now

How did you get into the commodity markets?

I became fascinated with the global commodity markets through university, studying international economics, exchange rates and protectionism. It was a lucky situation after my studies. I was working in France when I was 24 and was in contact with a couple of guys in trading. They offered me a junior role with the firm. The key to getting into the markets was building relationships and speaking to people through my studies.

What is the core purpose of your current role with Duferco?

We back to back trade, dealing with all of the sourcing, storage, stocking, sales and delivery of flat and long steel products. Primarily I trade the European markets, with some non EU business.

How relevant do you feel your education was in your latter career?

My university studies gave me a good headstart on terminologies and the dynamics of global markets, allowing me to pick up the concept of steel trading quickly. You can pick up physical trading without this, if you have a good mentor and someone to help you in the learning process, but my studies helped me in understanding the markets from early on.

One of the key things during my studies that has really helped, and I would recommend to anybody looking to go into trading, is languages. I studied 4 languages in my time in education which really helps build personal relationships with people at mills, suppliers, customers etc. which is critical in a competitive market. If I was picking languages for my business to learn? French and German for sure.

What is the most enjoyable part of your Steel Trading role?

The markets are constantly changing. The changes in market conditions are changing at a quicker and more dramatic rate all the time whilst the product has almost remained a constant. Having to adapt to different financing models, and improve service levels to compete and gain a competitive edge gives the most enjoyment. Travel too; being able to go and meet people in different regions is great.

What are the biggest pressures you face?

You cant make mistakes. Margins are low and there is little room for error. Back when I started we had much higher margins and a mistake could be rectified through discounting trades and offering something to keep the customer onboard and make good on any issues. Now days the margins aren’t there like they were – you have to be hot on it all the time, making sure everything is correct and nothing goes awry.

What has been the funniest/strangest moment trading steel?

We lost a ship with 40,000 tons of steel onboard once. We called the captain, he didn’t answer. We couldn’t find it anywhere, the captain wouldn’t come back to us and we did not know where it was. Eventually we got through to the captain but it was a rather stressful moment at the time. Now it is funny, back then it was a hell of a panic.

Also had a ship stuck in ice for months in port once. That was awkward.

What piece of advice would you give to trainees, graduates or juniors looking to go into the commodity markets?

Learn the languages, even if English is your native language. Be curious and critical; challenge processes and why things are done the way they are, challenge the norms and look for innovation.

How would you sum up your time in commodities in 3 words?

Challenging, Personally Enriching, Fun