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Old 02-02-2016, 06:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
So in short your info on bunker trading is from reading online and oil trading is from your “friends”?.

Is there anyone here who really has experience doing actual bunker trading can comment???

Would really appreciate some insights. As for those who are not in the industry and have opinions they hear from others, thank you for the contribution, but some of us here really need more accurate insider insights instead of generic comments.
I'll create some good karma for myself by sharing. My husband was a bunker trader for about close to 2 years and recently left the industry. He shares with me what goes on at work daily so I have a very good idea what the job entails. In short, it's a very bad time to join the industry now. I'll list the points down:

1. Shipping industry is doing badly so the requirement for bunker (marine fuel) has also dropped in correlation.
2. With the implementation of the mass flow meter, suppliers aren't able to quote low prices by short changing the ships anymore. The margin has dropped by a lot.
3. It's a very competitive industry with many small and medium bunker trading companies fighting for the same pie. I quote an example, for a trade of about USD 50k for a small vessel the profit margin is only about USD1-2k. Even if u get a 10% cut out of the 1-2k it's only usd 100-200. They expect u to make profits enough to cover your base pay before u get any bonus sharing. Only the few big boys are able to trade with the big shipping companies as they have huge volumes and thus are able to negotiate for much better prices with suppliers compared to the small and medium fry bunker trading companies.
4. Within the trading companies competition between traders is very stiff. For the past 1 year after the fall of OW bunkers ( u can google for yourself to find out what happened) , the traders from OW flooded the markets and they join existing bunker creating a very very negative infighting environment. They fight for the same customers with each other.
5. My husband has been getting quite a few calls from recruiters asking if he's keen to join etc bunker trading companies but no thanks. He has found a much better industry where the environment is healthier and more stable. Recruiters told him a lot of bunker traders have exited the industry and they can't find experienced ppl to join. It must be bad enough for the experienced ones to switch.
6. Basic pay if u look around in indeed.sg or jobstreet, could be anyway from 2.5k to 3+k. Not going to reveal my husband's pay here. A lot of the companies want u to have existing customers before they hire u, they don't have time to wait for u to build up your customer base or learn from scratch, they basically want to see the $$ now so fresh grads have almost naught chance of entering.
7. If you don't hit your target u will be asked to go, they only give u 6 months to perform, after that u can FO if they don't see the $$$. Happened to my husband's colleagues. Heard the common target is $20k profit, not revenue mind you.

Anymore questions feel free to ask me. I'm so happy my husband left this industry.
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