Physical Commodity Trading

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
1
Hello everyone! Im from Greece, 20 yo, studying CS.

Im really interested in commoditrading and what better place to be for these kind of jobs than Switzerland. Especially the GVA area is considered the mecca of trading.

Info about how easy is to get in, especially as foreigner (graduate programmes at top houses are very competitive), salaries/bonuses, best desks/products (i mean energy, metals or agri and why)?

Thank you in advance!!!

2
Commodity trading is going out of the window, it's now about producers selling direct to end users, traders no longer really fulfill any role in the process

3
NYC

But yeah, it doesn't strike me as a wise and safe career choice. Continue studying CS, much better, you could be writing bots to take over these trader jobs instead.

4
I have heard that too, but firms like Glencore, Trafigura, Mercuria, Gunvor, ABCD etc have huge revenues and their top traders earn millions. Margins are getting lower thats for sure, but everyone is compensating that by increasing volumes so...

5
There are also many small players in the market that do not have the operations/logistics to transfer the products or the relations with the end users.

6
Sounds like you know everything already, good luck.

7
I've worked at 3 of the ABCDs and came in many moons ago as a trainee and this way landed myself a job in Switzerland.

It is not so difficult as you would think, one thing you will have to make sure off, is get some affinity with the field before even applying. It is essential you find yourself a internship in (agri) commodities first.

For example, there are many small NGOs that work directly with farmers, providing them micro-loans, or support them with training. You can find these in eg. Ghana, Ivory Coast or the Philippines, if you spend some time directly within the origination countries, I will guarantee you you will be at least invited for the interview since there are really very little graduates that actually have gotten their hands dirty during their studies.

8
Ofc not, im asking for advice and im stating my opinions and things i have heard, but thx!!!

9
i dont know much about it, but what i heard from people in the field is that you used to get into the job after years in the back office.

Now it seems to be more about having a dad with the right connections.

10
Thank you @hans1, really solid info!!!

Those places do not seem the best destinations tbh, but sure it can be an exciting experience

Also, any opinions about energy and metals trading?