books for commodities trading

Going to join a bank as a summer analyst in commodities trading. Since I had no prior experience in commodities, I was wondering if there are any books regarding the topic. Can either be for beginners or advanced learning. Appreciate any advice!

8 Comments
 

It's a rotational program so I was looking for books that are more general instead of focusing on a specific type of commodity.

 

The World For Sale by Javier Blas is more narrative than educational, but it provides a good overview of the history of oil trading. 

 
Most Helpful

To get a basic knowledge read the booklet/paper on commodities by Trafigura. It gives a very good overview if you have no idea on commodities and value chain. Other than that if you like non fiction then King of Oil and The Prize are some of the best books I've read. Do note these are not educational books. There is also the energy outlook report from BP which I've heard is pretty good. IF you can get access to WoodMac reports they are good. For Energy follow John Kemp's newsletter.

 

I'd second the Trafigura info, especially when I was interviewing for full-time roles in college Id read through at least some of the stuff they have published before every interview. If you have the attention span to stomach a 64-page whitepaper, I cannot recommend "The Economics of Commodity Trading Firms" enough. Its now 8 years old so some of the minor details are outdated but don't think ive read anything that sums up my job better in an academic publication. 

 

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