Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 50823)

There are many ways to break into the physical commodity industry. But to start with, you will need to understand what physical trading truly means.

Physical trading is not only about looking at screens, it is about managing a supply chain, from doing logistics, to doing risk managing / hedging, to trade and structured financing. It is essentially doing an import and export business.

As for salaries, starting pay is low for entry level staff, but when you move into more senior roles, salary ranges can be high (think base of sgd25k/mth) with amazing bonuses. The reason being, in a commodity industry, the leveraging is extremely high and it is worth paying these salaries for people who can effectively use these leveraging tools.

Market cycles will come and go but it will always reward traders who can find new niche markets and methods to make money. The tools have been very similar all these years, the ones who survive, are the ones who can find new ways of using the same tools.

I am actually looking to conduct a course on physical trading to people who might be interested to branch into this industry with my specialty being in oil.

If anyone is interested, please refer to my website at commoditytradersingapore dot weebly dot com

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 50889)

advertisement ah

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 49238)

Looks like the commodities line is quite quiet or lacking interest. Maybe i post some salary related information and people might get more interested to join. My history has always been in physical commodities with some paper experience.

I started 7years ago as operations assistant in a metals company. Salary 3k. Promoted to junior trader just before i left after 1 year. Slight increment to 3.2k.

Jumped to agriculture sector as junior trader and annual increment exercise salary went up to 3.85k. This is at yr3.

For Yr4, i left the commodities industry for personal reasons and didn't do much work actually. Did my own thing and see more things around the world.

Yr4, i came back into the industry after realising i still love the industry. I got this opportunity through a recommendation. 5.6k.

Yr5, internal increment as did well 7k. Then nearly got poached to go into my previous sector. Discussed nicely with my boss my situation. 10k.

Yr6, still 10k. Left the company after having differing opinions on work with new bosses

Yr7, started in new company 12k.

Above just base salary only.

I realised once i hit about 5-6k. I was contented already. I didn't spend necessarily more when i earned more after that and didn't really need to work for the money. Just worked for enjoying it and love the challenge. Drive a simple car for family use. Can afford some luxuries once in a while. Give more to charity and to church. So pretty happy.

I have been deeply blessed to rise up like that although yes i know there are others better than me but more important is i'm contented with what i have and plan to give more as i earn more as really don't need it. There are still alot of poor and struggling people in Singapore so i donate to charities who target these groups mostly.

Cheers

Originally Posted by aplover (Post 49712)

I don't think your mgmt will really change. I left my previous company becoz I know they will not change on this pt. today I'm glad I moved and my value is a lot higher than some of my peers who stayed. Agree it is a combination of factors but fair compensation is very crucial which will determine your next few jumps.



There are. Quite a lot on jobsdb.com n others



If you are willing to invest time to learn the ropes as an analyst or operations person first starting at avg 3-4k salary. Why not? But then you might not make the cut as a trader ultimately. Will you be ok with that?

Originally Posted by CommodityTraderSingapore (Post 52110)

Most of the time it is discretionary because of varies reasons. For example, if you do arbitrages, should the profit sit on the supply source or the outlet?

But as a guide, commissions are typically below 15% of individual profit, after factoring for overheads.

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 49238)

Looks like the commodities line is quite quiet or lacking interest. Maybe i post some salary related information and people might get more interested to join. My history has always been in physical commodities with some paper experience.

I started 7years ago as operations assistant in a metals company. Salary 3k. Promoted to junior trader just before i left after 1 year. Slight increment to 3.2k.

Jumped to agriculture sector as junior trader and annual increment exercise salary went up to 3.85k. This is at yr3.

For Yr4, i left the commodities industry for personal reasons and didn't do much work actually. Did my own thing and see more things around the world.

Yr4, i came back into the industry after realising i still love the industry. I got this opportunity through a recommendation. 5.6k.

Yr5, internal increment as did well 7k. Then nearly got poached to go into my previous sector. Discussed nicely with my boss my situation. 10k.

Yr6, still 10k. Left the company after having differing opinions on work with new bosses

Yr7, started in new company 12k.

Above just base salary only.

I realised once i hit about 5-6k. I was contented already. I didn't spend necessarily more when i earned more after that and didn't really need to work for the money. Just worked for enjoying it and love the challenge. Drive a simple car for family use. Can afford some luxuries once in a while. Give more to charity and to church. So pretty happy.

I have been deeply blessed to rise up like that although yes i know there are others better than me but more important is i'm contented with what i have and plan to give more as i earn more as really don't need it. There are still alot of poor and struggling people in Singapore so i donate to charities who target these groups mostly.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 57180)

How about Rubber industry is it a good business to be in. I was invited for an interview in a CN commodity trading startup firm for junior trader, based on the JD it seems there are a lot of liaison with customer and supplier with very little mentioned about physical trading and futures trading.

Originally Posted by ook (Post 63739)

anybody in soft commodities can share more about your job? thanks

Originally Posted by ook (Post 64155)

bumpssssss

Originally Posted by aplover (Post 64204)

what you want to know?

Originally Posted by ook (Post 64219)

r u a physical or paper trader? which commodities do u deal with?

Originally Posted by aplover (Post 64224)

Physical. Agri. The industry now isn't as rosy as it used to be. Especially on the oil side. Far too many oil traders looking for jobs as a number of banks have been forced to close their non-core businesses.

Markets are also going to be less volatile going forward from here. Pure trading companies will find it tough to survive if their main business model is punting on liquidity

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 64271)

wished someone could help me get into the physical oil industry too.

dont mind starting as ops.

current experience is in metals.

Originally Posted by ook (Post 64290)

hi there why do u want to switch to energy? and why oil, how abt lng or coal?

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 64300)

Hi, my name is Eddie and i'm seeking new career opportunities in commodities industry, diploma holder in business management, I dun have past experiences and does not set align perfectly for Commodities Trading.

could anyone bros help me or job offer please. Appreciated : ) I dont mind any commodities.
drop me @ [email protected]

I have applied for 2015 Commodities Trainee Noble Global Associate Program, have anyone applied? when and how will i get into the program?

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 64902)

noob question, do commodity houses assign a commodity to a fresh grad based on his personality/knowledge??? or is it done completely random

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 64973)

tat depends on vacancy and interest. if you don't like to trade coffee but there's a vacancy, you won't last long.

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 64996)

ah icic, let's say if there are 2 vacancies for 2 commods, will the fresh grad get to decide or his boss picks for him?

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 65023)

As with all organisations, typically there is no hard and fast rule. You can make your intentions known, but the final decision will always come from your boss.

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 65029)

Commodities is an attractive industry to join. Be it in operations/analytics/trading/other support.

I was involved in the energy side, so can shed some light.

Gone are the good old days where money comes easily. Margins have been squeezed bad, and national oil companies are fast learning the tricks of the trade. Middlemen (i.e. trading houses) have been cut out, and even the traditional oil majors are facing challenges.

Joining the right setup is also important, where you have the necessary trading tools/support network. Helpful colleagues are also important; in this line, its usually every trader for himself/herself...you have your own P&L to showcase, never mind the corporate ******** about group P&L. If you are not contributing, you will be on your way out in max 2 years (less if the shop is tougher).

Having said all these, energy will be here to stay, so for young bright minds who wish to embark on a trading career, I will say give it a shot. Your annual package (including B) will likely be much more than the same graduating batch in engineering/govt (non elite admin service of course)/marketing/logistics/IT/Accouting/Auditing ---- I am talking about a trading role.

In Ops, the pay is also decent if you have a niche skill set or wide industry contacts with a penchant for problem solving/adding value to the trader's bottom line. I can guide that the package is probably comparable to other front line roles in alternative industries. So a senior Ops can probably pull in a similar package to a senior brand manager in an FMCG sector.