The HC Commodities Podcast

In this episode, we do a deep dive in to the world of voluntary carbon credits, which dominate the carbon world  in the absence of widespread global compliance markets. To date the categories, case law and regulation around these credits is complex and fragmented. However, with vast amounts of money flowing into them as companies respond to consumer demand the space is rapidly evolving and expandi...

To date, carbon markets cover only a few geographies and select categories. Yet, they are already impacting how commodities are produced and traded.  Over the next decade, carbon credits will expand to cover all manner of reduction and avoidance technologies,  dramatically changing the commodities world. Low carbon alternatives to existing commodities will flourish and so will the circular economy...

In this episode we return to Hydrogen with guest Erik Rakhou, Associate Director at Boston Consulting Group.  Low-carbon Hydrogen projects, policy support and predictions continue to dominate the news. So does the debate over its role in the energy transition, from power production to use as a fuel. What is the landscape today, the state of the debate and what will the future of Hydrogen be? What...

Robert Bensh, veteran energy executive and Ukraine investor, joins us again in a special episode to update us on the harrowing, shocking and tragic events in Ukraine. What has become of the people and companies that Robert partners with? What is happening with Ukraine's energy sector today?  What can be done to help Ukraine? What are the immediate and long-term consequences of the resulting sancti...

Demand for food is growing, and changing, with population increases and demographic change. At the same time, energy transition is creating an insatiable appetite for agricultural products. To date, advances in agri-technology and an efficient global trade has kept prices stable and inflation low. Is this now under threat as inflation takes grip? What is driving demand and how is it changing? Will...

At the end of the last decade, Investment Banks dominated commodity trading. The best results, the biggest seats and the best paid. A few short years later and the majority had scaled back or exited. Why? What drove their success and their exit. Now, in the foothills of a commodity super-cycle and the volatility of the energy transition will we see the banks return? The 2021 results, matching the...

Trillions of dollars will be needed to transition the global industrial base away from fossil fuels. Unlike the digital revolution, this will be capital intensive and technologically diverse – many of such technologies may be transitory themselves. So, what is the role of the capital markets and the financial institutions that facilitate them? How can investors navigate such a multi-pathed journey...

Trading is hard. Trading natural gas is trading on hard mode. The market has constantly evolved since its inception over the last twenty years ago, as regulation, transparency and market developments (e.g. shale) have changed the game. In the wake of those changes, many platforms and traders have left. So what does it take to survive  and thrive  as a trader in the energy markets? We turn to one o...

The mining sector faces powerful forces that are both disrupting it and creating opportunity. Customers are demanding greater transparency, while the energy transition continues to impact the entire supply chain. To maintain a competitive edge, mining businesses must adapt - reviewing everything from operational capability, to how they market and trade, and their culture and talent. In this episod...

In this episode we talk with author Owain Johnson, on his recently published book, 40 Classic Crude Oil Trades. A unique window into the world of oil trading and the traders that drive the markets. The book is a collection of forty trades, contributed by the traders themselves,  which span the breadth and scope of oil trading. Owain walks us through four of the best stories, as well as why he deci...

Over the past 50 years, nuclear’s share of global power generation has consistently failed to meet predictions. Now installed capacity is declining and the fleet is aging. Why? Have we seen “peak nuclear”? And what are the consequences for the power markets? Now, many see nuclear as having a key role to play in the energy transition, especially with the concept of Small Modular Reactors. Will this...

PPAs unlocked the power of renewables leading to the sectors incredible rise over the past decade. These long term agreements, primarily selling the power to utilities, provided the foundation for a whole slate of new developers to create wind and solar farms across Europe and US. Everything worked well in a decade of low prices and low volatility. Then came 2021 and these long term PPAs created a...

Fertilizers sit at the very heart of the commodities world. Their components are both mined and derived from hydrocarbons while their use underpins the agri sector. A truly global commodity but dominated by a handful of producers and traders. After a decade of low prices, last year saw prices quadrupled driven by energy price rises, shipping disruption and demand increase. What is the market struc...

In this special end of year episode, host Paul Chapman reviews some of the major themes of 2021 covered in the podcast and comments on the plans for 2022.  To find out more about HC and our talent advisory services in the energy & commodities sector visit www.hcgroup.global/hc-insider To connect with our host Paul Chapman, you can find him at www.linkedin.com/in/paulchapmanhc/ For related content...

Ukraine was the breadbasket and the energy engine for the Soviet Union. It was also the main energy transit route connecting the East to Europe. Now, after years of underinvestment in production it faces an energy deficit, and due to the uncertain political and security environment its role of gas transistor is rapidly disappearing. How can Ukraine meet its energy shortfall? What is the opportunit...

There is a fundamental mismatch between forecasted demand and supply for those metals vital for energy transition and EVs. What are the supply challenges? And what are the solutions, if stated goals and public demand are to be met? What roles will policy, investment and market solutions play and how can the metal producers, traders and consumers prepare and profit from what will undoubtedly be one...

Technology is revolutionizing agriculture and its markets. Over the last two decades, rapid strides have been made in the business of farming. Genetics is de-commoditizing crops; in the future, constituent yields of oils and proteins will be far more likely to drive pricing than crop itself. Automation of planting, plant care and harvesting is boosting yield. Both technologies are tackling sustain...

Emerging technologies, such as blockchain and artificial intelligence are unlocking the capacity to efficiently trace, track and share ownership of physical assets at a granular level. Digitalization not only provides the ability to interconnect entire value chains from origin through to trading but can also give commodities utility as a form of payments. Could commodities become new currencies, p...

Are we in a super-cycle or is it a chimera generated by the short-term impacts of COVID and trade wars? What’s the role of energy transition and redistributive policies around the world? How long will it last and how high will prices go? This episode is a recording of a panel discussion which host Paul Chapman moderated at the Reuters Events Commodity Trading 2021. The panelists represent the lead...

With COP26, voluntary carbon credits, Green Financing and shrinking opportunities in established markets, energy investors and producers are looking to emerging and frontier markets for future projects. Such projects presents great challenges, some new and some old. In this episode, our guest Francis Ugboma guides us through some of the additional complexity and hurdles to take on this growing sec...

Demand for commodity financing is skyrocketing as prices, volumes and margin calls are on the rise. However, after a decade of low demand, low returns and pressure from a variety of sources, the supply of liquidity is far more constrained. Many banks, who had prominent roles in commodity finance in the 2000s have pulled back entirely while newer entrants often lack the deep product expertise to pr...

Record prices, extreme volatility, net-zero carbon demands, liquidity challenges and disrupted supply chains are the ‘new normal’ in commodities. Planning for 2022 and beyond in this environment is incredibly hard. In this episode, we go into the boardrooms of traders, producers and consumers to understand the challenges they face and the decisions to make to survive and thrive in this uncertain w...

In this episode, we explore the hidden, dark side of the energy transition. The West offshored to Asia the pollution stemming from the mining and processing of the key metals and products needed for the modem world, from electric cars to defense technology. In doing so has it also irrevocably ceded dominance to China in the future digital and energy economy? And in a world of rising prices, the EV...

Hydrogen is touted as a key component in energy transition, providing a carbon-free source of energy from transportation to heating our homes, while conveniently using existing oil & gas infrastructure and reserves. If so, why haven’t we built a hydrogen economy already? Is the hydrogen economy more hype than hope? What are its challenges from the immutable laws of thermodynamics, to technology, t...

The shipping market is treacherously cyclical. Adding the pandemic, digitization, trade wars and energy transition has made this lynchpin of the global energy markets one of most challenging segments to operate in and to plan for the future. What drives the tanker market? What are the short- and long-term impacts of the pandemic? What does digitization mean for the market structure and talent? And...