How To Become A Commodity Trader: What It Is and Career Path

What is a commodity trader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A commodity trader is an individual or business that buys and sells different commodities, including gold, oil, produce, and natural gas, just to name a few. Economic trends, market fluctuations, or arbitrage opportunities usually determine the buying and selling activities of this type of trader.

The main duties of a commodity trader are monitoring international market performance, buying and selling at prices that meet their clients' needs, providing investment advice to clients, analyzing market reports, and developing hedging strategies. A commodity trader's tasks may also include visiting international shippers and researching new business opportunities that they may come across.

This role typically entails at least a bachelor's degree, usually in finance, business, economics, and other related majors. Additionally, a commodity trader must have substantial knowledge of trading techniques, market conditions, and international trading to be successful in this role.

The average yearly salary of a commodity trader is $92,000. Traders can make even more money by making the right calls in buying and selling, as well as securing high-value clients.

ScoreCommodity TraderUS Average

Salary

7.3

Avg. Salary $93,220

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.5

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.21%

Asian 12.23%

Black or African American 5.45%

Hispanic or Latino 11.30%

Unknown 4.12%

White 66.68%

Gender

female 12.65%

male 87.35%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

9.5

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.5

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a commodity trader

Explore commodity trader education requirements

Most common commodity trader degrees

Bachelor's

76.6 %

Master's

12.0 %

Associate

7.6 %

Start to develop specific commodity trader skills

Skills	Percentages
Commodities	14.13%
Commodity Trading	11.50%
Logistics	11.37%
Market Trends	9.32%
Derivative	6.07%

Research commodity trader duties and responsibilities

Trade, build, manage, and modele interest rate derivative positions via exchange floor
Manage and execute physical/financial grains book as well as base metal arbitrage portfolio.
Manage procurement and sales of bulk grains and agricultural commodities for redistribution into local dairy operations in Idaho.
Trade a variety of investment vehicles including commodity futures, FOREX and equities.

Prepare your commodity trader resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your commodity trader resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a commodity trader resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Commodity Trader Resume templates

Build a professional Commodity Trader resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Commodity Trader resume.

Apply for commodity trader jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a commodity trader job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do commodity traders rate their job?

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Commodity Trader reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2020

Pros

Been a grain & pulse trader for nearly 50 years and love it. No workdays are ever the same and you have to be a self starter. You get on the phone and give yourself a raise every day.

Cons

You get on the phone and give yourself a raise