Learn how physical
commodity trading works.
A complete, self-paced course on the business of moving commodities — cargo, Incoterms, documents, shipping, chartering, laytime & demurrage, trade finance, letters of credit, and risk. Plain English, worked examples, no paywall.
Not theory. Execution.
- 23
- lessons
- 7
- modules
- ~3h
- of reading
- $0
- to study
Follow a cargo from origin to settlement — and see where the trader earns their margin.
Every physical trade runs the same circuit. Click any stage to see what happens, and why the trader exists at all.
Trader
Stands in the middle and absorbs the risk neither side will take.
The trader's real job isn't to bet on price — it's to de-risk the transaction for both the producer and the buyer. Pay the supplier, ship the cargo, get paid by the client, and earn a margin for carrying the risk in between.
Seven modules, 23 lessons — free to read, in any order.
Every lesson is plain-English, with worked examples and self-check questions. Click any lesson to start reading.
Fundamentals
The one idea that reframes the whole industry.
3 lessonsIncoterms & Documents
Who owns the risk, and the paper that moves the cargo.
3 lessonsShipping & Transport
How commodities actually move — and where money leaks.
5 lessonsTrade Finance
How deals get funded between buying and getting paid.
4 lessonsRisk
The risks that end traders — not just trades.
4 lessonsTrade Breakdowns
Real deal structures, number by number.
3 lessonsPutting It Together
From understanding to doing.
1 lessons
To operate inside a trade is to manage constraints — counterparties, paperwork, timing, finance, logistics and risk — until a deal on paper becomes cargo on the water and money in the bank.
This is the mindset the course is built to install. Not a theory of markets — a way of seeing every deal as a system of risks to be structured, sequenced and closed.
De-risk the transaction
A trader doesn't simply buy low and sell high. They stand between a buyer and a supplier who won't deal directly — and earn their margin by absorbing the risk in the middle.
Documents are the craft
Cargo moves on paper. The right Incoterm, a clean Bill of Lading, an LC with zero discrepancies — precision here is the difference between getting paid and getting burned.
Counterparty risk ends you
Margins are thin. One default can erase the profit of fifteen good trades. The operator's instinct is to see the risk in a deal before the deal sees them.
Timing is money
Laytime, demurrage, payment terms, the cash cycle — value leaks or is earned in the hours and days between events. Operators manage time as carefully as price.
A genuine study resource — no paywall, no pitch.
Physical commodity trading is one of the most opaque industries to break into: no public roadmap, fragmented knowledge, and a lot of jargon that makes outsiders sound like tourists. This course exists to lay it out clearly, for free.
The lessons are written from the operational reality of the business — how a cargo moves from origin to buyer, how it’s contracted, documented, shipped, financed and de-risked. Read top to bottom, or jump to whatever you need.
This is independent, original educational material written to teach these public topics. It is not affiliated with, nor does it reproduce the proprietary content of, any commercial academy or trading firm. Worked-example figures are illustrative, for learning only — not trading or investment advice.
Begin with lesson one.
Eight minutes to the single idea that reframes the entire industry — then build from there, one lesson at a time. It’s all free.