Commodity Trader
Commodity traders buy and sell raw materials such as oil, metals and grain, taking positions on where prices are headed.
- Median salary
- $134,000
4.2%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 2,300
0.0%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +12.6%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 44/wk
+4h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
Commodity traders deal in physical cargoes and the derivatives that price them, covering energy, metals, agricultural products and softs such as coffee and sugar. What separates the role from share trading is the physical side: a trader follows harvests, port delays, shipping rates and weather because the commodity has to be grown, moved and delivered somewhere. Most work for trading houses, banks, investment funds or the producers and refiners who trade to hedge their own output, usually on a small desk built around one or two markets.
How much do commodity traders earn?
The median full-time salary for a commodity trader is $134,000 per annum, before tax, up $28,200 since 2018.
A trading desk pays a base salary plus a bonus tied to the profit the trader's book makes, so total earnings can sit well above the base in a good year and close to it in a poor one. The commodity matters, with energy and metals desks generally paying more than agricultural ones, and the same job at a trading house, a bank and a producer is structured differently. Beyond that, pay follows the size of the risk limit a trader is trusted with and how long they have run their own book.
What does a commodity trader do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Watching price feeds on a Bloomberg Terminal or Reuters Eikon for the move that opens or closes a position
- Placing buy and sell orders across spot, futures and options markets before the opportunity passes
- Reading weather forecasts, harvest reports and shipping data for the commodity they cover, since a drought or a blocked strait can move prices within minutes
- Checking a proposed trade against internal limits and risk controls before it is approved
- Reconciling the day's trades and comparing the book's performance against a benchmark once the market closes
What skills do commodity traders need?
Employers look for financial analysis and modelling, risk and internal controls, data analysis, backed by Bloomberg Terminal fluency and strong problem solving.
Specialist skills
- Financial analysis and modelling
- Risk and internal controls
- Data analysis
- Economic modelling
Software and tools
- Bloomberg Terminal
- Reuters Eikon
- Excel/VBA
- Trading platforms (CME, ICE, LME)
- Python/R for analytics
General skills
- Problem solving
- Attention to detail
- Time and deadline management
- Written communication
Is the job growing?
About 2,300 people work as commodity traders in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 12.6% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.
How do you become a commodity trader?
Here's the path most commodity traders take, step by step.
- 1Take a degree the desks recruit from
Commerce, economics, finance, mathematics and engineering are the common routes, and agriculture or meteorology can help on a grains or softs desk. A bachelor degree is the standard entry point: about 43% of the people working as commodity traders hold one.
- 2Get into a graduate or vacation program
Trading houses, banks and large producers run structured intakes, usually paid, and they are the main door for someone with no market experience. Vacation or internship programs during study are the usual way in, and they are competitive.
- 3Spend a few years close to a desk
Trade support, scheduling, middle office, analytics and operations roles sit beside the traders and teach the contracts, the systems and the physical logistics. Many traders move onto a desk from one of these rather than straight from university.
- 4Take a small risk limit of your own
Junior traders and trader assistants start with tight limits that grow as they prove they can manage a position. This is where the job changes from supporting someone else's book to answering for your own.
- 5Consider postgraduate study if you are changing careers
A master's in finance, economics or a related field is a common route in for people coming from another industry, and about 10% of the workforce holds a postgraduate qualification. It helps with the screening stage but does not replace desk experience.
Ready to apply as a commodity trader?
Whether you're working toward becoming a commodity trader or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a commodity trader move to?
Moving into Procurement Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $13,400 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Procurement Manager Commodity traders bring market analysis and negotiation skills to sourcing and supplier management, though a substantial course is needed.Known move | +$13,400 | 39% | reskill |
| Sales Manager Trading is a form of selling, so client and negotiation skills support a move into sales management after reskilling.Known move | +$5,200 | 26% | reskill |
| Equities Trader Trading discipline and market judgement carry directly across to share trading with little extra study. | +$3,900 | 75% | minimal |
| Futures Dealer Experience pricing risk and reading markets translates naturally to futures dealing with minimal retraining. | +$3,900 | 63% | minimal |
| Derivatives Trader Commodity traders already understand contracts and risk, so a short course bridges into derivatives trading. | +$3,900 | 50% | short course |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a commodity trader?
The typical commodity trader is 40 years old; 73% are men, 86% work full-time, and full-timers average 44 hours a week.
- 40
- Median age
- 27%
- Female share
- 86%
- Full-time
- +4h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a commodity trader?
The day is shaped by markets opening overseas, so traders tend to start early and stay close to their screens until their market closes. Pressure comes in bursts: long stretches of reading and waiting, then a few minutes in which a decision has to be made and lived with. It suits people who can hold a view when the price disagrees with them and who do not need every call to be right.
What people like
- The market answers straight away. A position is marked against the price within minutes, so there is little ambiguity about whether a call was good. That feedback loop is what draws people to trading rather than analysis.
- One commodity becomes your specialty. Traders get to know a market in real depth: who grows or drills it, which route it ships on, and which weather, politics or pipeline decides the price this month.
- Small teams and real responsibility. Desks are usually a handful of people, so junior traders can be running a book and talking to counterparties within a few years. Promotion follows results rather than time served.
- The work connects to the physical world. A position often ends in a cargo arriving at a port, and understanding the logistics of that delivery is part of the edge. It is a different job from trading a purely financial instrument.
What people find hard
- Hours follow the market, not the clock. Sessions in London, Chicago and Shanghai mean early starts, late finishes and a working week that runs longer than the standard one. Traders cannot step away from an open position.
- A losing position is visible. Losses show up on the desk's profit and loss the same day, and the trader who took the position has to explain it. That is uncomfortable whether or not the reasoning was sound.
- Risk limits cap your conviction. You can be certain a price will move and still not be allowed to take the position size you want. The limits that protect the firm also constrain the trades a trader believes in most.
- The roles cluster in a few centres. Trading desks sit in a small number of financial centres, with resources trading drawing people to Perth as well as the eastern capitals. Being willing to move is often part of getting onto a good desk.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ commodity traders?
Wholesale Trade employs the largest share of commodity traders, followed by Professional, Scientific and Technical Services.
Top employing industries
- 1Wholesale Trade
- 2Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
- 3Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Bachelor degree | 43.1% | |
|---|---|---|
| Year 12 or below | 24% | |
| Postgraduate | 10.2% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 9.5% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 9% |
Will AI replace commodity traders?
Commodity trading is moderately exposed to AI. Pricing feeds, news scanning and order execution are increasingly automated, so a trader spends less time watching screens and pulling quotes than a decade ago, and more time deciding what a move means for their own book. What sits outside the automation is the physical trade, the counterparty relationships behind it, and the judgement calls on risk that the desk still makes by hand.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Reading price feeds and market newsScreening tools flag unusual moves across futures curves and news wires, but a trader still has to work out whether a strike at a mine or a dry spell in Brazil changes their own position.30%moderate
- Placing and pricing ordersExecution algorithms slice large orders across the CME or LME and hide the size from the market, so the trader now sets the parameters and steps in when a fill looks wrong.25%high
- Modelling supply and demand for a commodityForecasting tools handle much of the number crunching on balance sheets and shipping data, leaving the trader to question the assumptions and the reliability of the input data.25%moderate
- Managing risk limits and counterparty relationshipsSetting limits, agreeing terms with a producer and deciding when to cut a losing position depend on judgement and trust that sit with the trader and the desk head.20%low
Common questions about becoming a commodity trader
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do commodity traders earn?
The median is $134,000 per annum, before tax, though bonuses tied to desk performance make up a large share of what traders take home. The commodity, the firm and the size of the risk limit you are trusted with move that figure more than years of service do.
How do you become a commodity trader?
Most enter through a bachelor degree in commerce, economics, finance, mathematics or engineering, then a graduate or vacation program at a trading house, bank or producer. A few years in trade support, scheduling or analytics is a common way onto a desk for people who did not start in a graduate intake.
Are commodity traders in demand?
Commodity traders are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 12.6% over the decade to 2035. With only about 2,300 people in the occupation, openings are few, and most of them come through graduate intakes or from the support roles around a desk.
Will AI replace commodity traders?
Not entirely, but the role carries moderate exposure: pricing, news screening and routine order execution are already automated. What resists automation is judging which signals matter for a particular book, negotiating a physical cargo, and managing the risk on that cargo while it is at sea.
What can commodity traders move into?
Equities and futures desks are the closest moves, since market judgement and trading discipline carry across with little extra study, and equities traders earn about $3,900 more. Procurement and sales management suit traders who want to use their market knowledge with more predictable hours, though both take reskilling. Some experienced traders eventually trade on their own account or run a small trading business, which is often where their earnings grow.
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