How to be a good operator (physical trading)
Hi all,
I'm in some interview rounds for physical trading companies. I know that starting out I'll be in operations (and this is fine as I like the logistics portion of this field) but I wanted to ask how, as an operator, I can have a positive impact on the companies P&L.
Example:
If your trader has bought crude at Brent +2, and your bill of lading states delivery on Wednesday; but in the futures market you see the following:
- Monday: $84
- Tuesday: $83
- Wednesday: $83
- Thursday: $78
- Friday: $78
Then you can ask your trader if it'd be alright to slow the shipment down to 'artificially' change the BL date to Thursday and take advantage of that much lower price.
I'm just looking for some examples and information that would help me get a better grasp of how to be really good at the job (if I get it).
Any help would be really appreciated, thanks in advance.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are some key points to help you become a good operator in physical trading and positively impact your company's P&L:
Understanding Freight, Storage, and Opportunity Cost:
Execution and Reliability:
Relationships and Market Knowledge:
Risk Management and Arbitrage:
Operational Efficiency:
Long-term Strategy:
By focusing on these areas, you can enhance your skills as an operator and contribute positively to your company's P&L. Good luck with your interviews and potential new role!
Sources: Physical Commodity Trading, Physical Energy Trading And Logistics, Q&A: Physical Oil Trading, Q&A: Physical Oil Trading, Physical Energy Trading And Logistics
Scheduling/operations is really just an optimization problem. You need to deliver a commodity to a customer at point A. You have supply at point B. What is the best way to get it there? Using natural gas as an example, do I flow it on a pipeline I have primary service or take a risk flowing it cheaper on a different pipeline where I have secondary service and may get cut/rejected?
That's a very broad and general type of question/problem you would encounter in operations. So the best schedulers are the ones that know all the detailed rules and paths to be able to get all the deliveries needed at the lowest cost. They also will develop relationships with other companies and schedulers so that if they need service somewhere, they have the contact to call and get that done.
don’t think you can slow down as it’s sort of embedded within contracts within pumprate guidelines & unless there has been weather/pipeline/forceM disruptions like Libya/Sudan
what may be helpful to traders is, demurrage, draft, port restrictions, pump rates at different terminals (ie you’re loading VGO vs products), highlighting that sort of things may be much more impactful than pricing itself. it of course comes with the job know how and it will take awhile to learn after they’ve fixed a boat & when you’vehandled the ops within the area itself. lots of on the job training!
Thanks for the response,
My understanding of it was:
- Your cost is determined by the spot rate at time of delivery
- If your ship has been slowed down to miss its BL date, then obviously there will be demurrage costs and risks of not being unloaded involved
- If your gain from the price differential > cost of demurrage and such, then this could end up being profitable.
Again, never worked in the industry so quite unsure about the specifics surround this (i.e if you're someone who constantly delays / speeds up delivery based on your own gain, what supplier/consumer is going to want to work with you).
Of course this would depend on the payable being determined by day of delivery, not predetermined in the contract; which I'm unsure of how often that is the case...
The BL describes when the product was loaded not the delivery window.
That aside, if for some reason your contract with the counterparty stipulated that pricing was a function of when the product is offloaded, then sure maybe you’d think about rolling the discharge along with your hedges if it made economic sense. If it’s a dap purchase, then the cp is handling the ship, thus they have control over when the product arrives. In this case, you’d likely want to have predetermined pricing dates in the contract.
Pricing can be determined many ways - monthly avg, x day average, etc. list goes on. That, along with incoterms and who is chartering the vessel would dictate whether you’d think about (or even have control of) playing with timing in the first place.
Ah okay,
This info is a huge help, thank you.
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