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I've recently graduated with a 2:1 from a mid tier (one of the better non RG) uni and a few semi-relevant internships. Trawling Linkedin + my network etc. shows me an insanely variable difference in the backgrounds of the people on the various supermajors' grad schemes and I would be grateful for...

Hello champs, I'm studying a BBA with major in Finance and minor in Computer Science at a non target school (ICADE) in a non target country (Spain). I'm currently in my penultimate year and I wanted to get into commodities but for what I've found, there are only a few summer internships from the...

As the title suggests; what are considered the most useful post graduate credentials one could attain? I know CFA is primarily for equity research and the CPA is focused towards accounting. I was thinking maybe a Masters in Analytics from Georgia Tech? since we do deal with data alot and its only...

I would like to ask all the physical metal traders on this forum, where is the money at in the metals realm nowadays? What I mean by this is, where are margins? Concs, cathodes, billets, ingots, scrap? Which metals (base, battery, ferrous, precious)? Last but not least, which companies pay the best,...

Hey, I will graduate within a year (physics) and am based in Switzerland. I consider applying for commodity trading firms (Glencore, Trafigure) in Switzerland. I don't know too much about the industry, but I like - short and intense work (NOT long hours) - results-oriented work (it works or it...

Afternoon all, I was wondering if anybody had any knowledge of/experience with COFCO International. I am currently going through the process for their Commercial Graduate Programme for the UK office. My end goal is to trade physicals (preference at the moment is softs, but I can see this changing...

Update: Solid advice given by WinnerWinner and anon. Give em a million banana's folks. Carpe Diem. It's you vs. the world, and nothing is ever given to you. In the words of my late Grandaddy- "work hard play hard, boy"

Dear all, I'm an intern currently doing Finance for a small physical trading house. It is my interest to slowly work my way up to try to get into a Junior Trader Role once I graduate but I'm quite stuck at the moment about the logic behind back to back trading hence seeking the experienced to...

I currently work for one of the largest independent traders and have worked my way up to a Junior Trading role having been through the ranks of operations and deals desk (financial risk). I cover what is considered to be a regional market for the company and although i'm considered to be in a good...

Sorry in advance for the rant: Been working at a major trading house (think traf etc) and so far my experience hasn't been so great. I've been getting railed by upper management for continuously making small mistakes. Work has stressed me out to the point where I've been dreaming about not...

I am looking to pursue a career in the commodities trading space (open to phys and financial). I am interning at a major this summer but don't want to ask the FT employees what their comp is so I'm coming here. I know this is a very cyclical industry, but I'd love to hear about comp ranges for more...

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Hello all, I just want to rant about my bad experience while interviewing for Cargill (physical trading position) a few hours ago. So I have been looking for a change in jobs for a few months. Have had some success and currently hold a couple of offers from two ABCDs and a couple other traders in...

Hi! I worked in origin as a junior coffee trader (physical). I learned the basics of the industry, everything I needed to know about the mkt, was in charge of the company's trading position,

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I was offered a job at a shop but I thought it might be a red flag that the company does not require traders to obtain licensure. They also allow you to step into a commercial role after just 6 months in logistics. The company is a market maker for a niche commodity where futures have an open...

Does anyone in the Physical Trading Space know of companies that are similar to Orian Resource partners? They specialize in institutional metals and mining investment strategies in the base and precious metals space and I am particularly interested in how they structure loans to company's in...

I am a physical arbitrage trader with one year of experience as a junior trader (1 year out of school). While I am elated to have a risk-taking position out of school, I am looking to move out of the rural area that I am in, in search of a similar role on the paper side or a seat at one a better...

Hey everyone, I am a scheduler for a small O&G company. I studied economics at a Canadian school and worked a year in an operations role for a Class I railroad after graduation before moving to the customer side. All the people I've heard of going from scheduler to trader on this forum come from...

Hello, Is the goal for a small or medium merchant firm to go upstream? If so, why don't all small to medium firms have upstream assets? I understand the hurdle for energies and metals might be capital and regulations, but what about ag? I am not sure how easy it is to acquire farmland, but it can't...

Hello physical traders, I have a couple questions regarding hedging: 1) Are all cash moves hedged immediately? I would assume it would be different depending on the size of the merchant firm, but in general, do physical traders immediately hedge price risk, or is there an element of speculation by...

Hello All, After reading some of the other threads, it seems that ag trading has slowed down pretty significantly over the past decade. The trade war and Turkey's recession probably didn't help either. But I was wondering what people thought about the possible end to the trade war soon. Will it...

Hello there fellow hominids! It's been quite a long while since I came through here and a lot has happened since then. Diving right in the story, last I was here, I was a banker working in a commercial bank in the middle east, running an international banking desk. I called it quits a couple of...

Looking to get some of the opinions of the other physical trade guys in the forum, but anyone feel free to chime in. Given the moves XOM has made, what are your opinions on having another monster trading shop coming into the market? I agree with the sentiment that they arent going to start paper...

Saw some threads on this but most were a few years old. Wanted to revisit which energy commodities are the preferred commodities to trade among the experts here. There seemed to be a strong preference for NGL / LPGs relative to others such as crude or refined products. Do you still feel the same way...

Out of interest, was wondering how bonuses for traders at physical trading houses such as Trafigura and Vitol are structured? Is it earned on a per trade or deal basis and how exactly is it calculated? Not much info about this online

Anyone have any experience with Green Plains? Im trying to decide between an internship offer from them and one from Scoular. There isn’t much on them online. Any advice would help. Cheers.

Hi there Does anyone work (or have worked) at Irving Oil in Saint John, NB? Interested to hear your thoughts on the company, the refinery, and associated job prospects. What is the upwards trajectory for someone there vs someone in Calgary given the same skill set which is largely supply and trading...

I think I may have mentioned this before... but I think it would be awesome if there was a commodities designation under the Sales & Trading profile tag. Currently guys like myself and @EnergyHOU" are forced to put "other." Not a big deal but with the growing popularity of physicals and some banks...

Hey all, I'm currently a natural gas scheduler looking to transition into physical trading and am considering getting an M.B.A. with a specialization in commodities at the J.P. Morgan Center for Commodities at CU Denver as I see it as an opportunity to enhance the prospect of trading in the future....

Does anyone here know much about steel trading ? I'm in base metals and I've been wondering why that industry is so separate from the non-ferrous metals sector. Is it because of the lack of a deep hedging market? Steel trading seems to involve a lot more finished products thanks to sheer volumes but...

I have the opportunity to join a oil trader as an analyst with the intention of becoming a trader in the future. Does anyone have any reccomendations on any materials to get me up to speed (books, presentations, websites, etc)? Also any idea of what starting salaries might look like? Appreciate the...

I was curious how attractive doing a year or two in operations of a big physical player plus doing a year or two working for the IEA or EIA would be for admission to a TDP program (Shell, Noble, and Trafigura are the only three I can think of with a route-to-trader program). Really, I'm wondering if...

Has anyone heard of H-Energy? It is own by the Hiranandani Group who seem to be predominantly in the real estate development sector. They are venturing into the energy space (particularly LNG and crude), looking to export out of Nova Scotia. I'm wondering if anyone has information on them or...

Hello everyone, Every bank that is financing commodity businesses (abn, ing, bnpp, rabo, macquire, anz, Soc Gen , natixis and other) is active in the energy sector. Some operate only in the energy sector claiming that metals and especially agri businesses are on a much lower scale, thus deals are...

Hey everybody, Forgive the topic title, I know it's silly, but follow me. So I'm plenty familiar with commodities, and will be joining a physical shop soon. My question doesn't so much concern anything with that, but I knew the topic is a popular one on these forums the last few years. My question...

For a physical firm that does not run a purely flat, hedged book, I’m honestly a little lost on the overall structure/strategy – basically – how are traders initial positions established? My understanding is that a BP, Xstrata, Shell, etc. has its E&P arm that drills or mines for the...

Hi everyone, I'm aiming to secure a job with one of the big Ag traders of the world (think Cargill, Glencore, Bunge etc.). I want to learn as much as I can about physical trading strategies at these firms. Can anyone point me in the direction of any resources that could help me out? Thanks in...

Hello! I am looking for the best procedure to buy copper concentrate, ship it to a smelter and let him treat the ore and refine the copper in form of A grade copper cathodes, pay the process and sell the copper cathodes to large buyers. I am talking about SPOT deals but can´t find any information...

Couple questions: 1. Does anyone here have access to this survey? http://www.imercer.com/uploads/Europe/pdfs/energy_flyer_final.pdf 2. I've noticed in that survey and elsewhere that Origination is a separate role from trading. But judging from books like Metal Men or some comments on WSO , I was...

The only information I managed to obtain from the internet was that a power scheduler “acts as the interface between the grid operators and the traders”. Do you guys have any knowledge that could be added to that generic description? I also have a few questions given my interpretation of the...

Dikembe Mutombo’s finger wag always deserved a tip of the hat, but with all the revelations about his gold trading schemes finally coming to light, the man probably deserves a taste of his own medicine. [quote=Forbes]Mutombo was recently involved in a proposed deal to extract more than a thousand...

Hello guys!!! as someone who is new to physical crude trading and WSO what hedges would you recommend implementing to protect a cargo of Petroleum bought today for future delivery in one region on local pricing with intention to deliver if by sea to a different region on totally different pricing??...

Hi, I'm in the process of applying to several firms who physically trade metal. I can't perfectly explain why but during an internship at one of the Wall St. biggies I really liked commodities derivatives most, and found products based on industrial metals especially interesting. In the securities...

I am interested in energy commodities, and had worked in a physical shop, would love to learn more about the paper side as well, what are some of the challenges the paper traders encounter that physical don't?

Row call! Who here is in Calgary (and more broadly Canada)? I work in business development for a midstream / marketing company. Been at it for just over 3 years now. It's been a great experience with lots of exposure and responsibility (crude oil and ngl/lpg). Been thinking about long term...

I'm in a new role learning the refinery business and was wondering if anyone had any helpful guides on how to calculate refinery margins. I'm aware of the 321, heat and gas oil cracks but if you have some good ideas please let a monkey know.

I am supposed to be updating my firm's website and am having trouble wording one of our activities. Does anyone know what the technical term would be for the following transaction; Say you are a commodity trading firm. A mine operator wants to invest in a new mine. Rather than taking out a loan,...