When I arrived at the FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne at the end of April, I expected difficult conversations about geopolitics, supply, demand and financing. What stood out instead was how consistently senior leaders described volatility as the operating environment itself.
The FT framed the 2026 summit as “Finding the advantage in a fragmented world” and later noted a sector-wide “volatility shock.” Sitting in those sessions, I came away with the sense that this was not a temporary spike in uncertainty. It was a more durable reset in how commodities businesses think, trade and organise.
Across oil, LNG, metals, power, shipping and finance, the same question kept reappearing in different forms: how do you run a commodities business when disruption is no longer the exception? The answer was not simply to predict the next crisis better. It was to build organisations capable of absorbing shocks and serving customers when price signals, logistics and policy all move at once.
When Disruption Becomes the Business Model
That point came through clearly in Richard Holtum, CEO of Trafigura’s interview. He described the trader’s role as that of a global “shock absorber,” taking in disruption, managing risk and still delivering to customers.
In practical terms, that meant vessels caught in conflict zones, constant coordination across time zones, and shortages reaching across oil, LNG, gas, power and metals. What stayed with me was the organisational implication. Volatility is no longer managed by a small group of traders alone. It must be absorbed across shipping, operations, finance and leadership.
The same session highlighted the widening gap between financial prices and physical reality. There were repeated references to physical buyers paying meaningful premiums for secure, deliverable product, even when benchmark futures looked calmer.
Holtum also spoke bluntly about prices needing to rise far enough to force substitution, thrift or what the market calls “demand destruction.” It was one of the most striking phrases I heard in Lausanne (a new one for me!), partly because it is so clinical. In practice, it means the market often balances through pain somewhere else in the system.
That point was reinforced in the oil discussion. The panel spoke about the difference between what the screen was showing and what operators were facing on the ground: tanker shortages, refinery bottlenecks, freight disruption, insurance costs and recovery timelines measured in months rather than days. A ceasefire, or even a reopening of a chokepoint, does not immediately restore supply chains. Ships need to move back. Cargoes need to be re-routed. Refineries need the right crude and the right logistics. Price still matters, but price alone was not telling the full story.
The hedge fund panel added another dimension. Volatility is no longer just a condition to survive. For some participants, it has become an asset class to trade. Yet that discussion also made clear that extreme volatility can reduce liquidity and make markets harder, not easier, to trade.
From Just-in-Time to Just-in-Case
Gary Pedersen, CEO of Gunvor, also made a similar point from a different angle. He described a market that remains headline-driven, inventory-depleted and subject to longer logistics chains. In his view, that points to sustained volatility, not a quick return to normal. Just as important, he linked performance under pressure to structure and culture. Gunvor’s shift towards a partnership model was presented not as a governance detail, but as a way to widen decision-making and encourage people to act like owners.
Pedersen’s comments also reflected a shift away from the efficiency logic that shaped commodities for years. The phrase that stayed with me was the move from “just-in-time” to “just-in-case” logistics. In a tighter, more fragmented market, businesses are carrying more contingency, whether in shipping, inventory, capital, assets or decision-making. That may be more expensive in the short term, but it also looks far more realistic. The old assumption that supply chains would always smooth themselves out now feels much harder to defend.
Russell Hardy, CEO of Vitol, made the same point in more practical terms when he said, “We are borrowing these product inventories to cover demand today. They will need replacing.” That comment captured the underlying issue neatly: the market may find short-term workarounds, but resilience still has to be rebuilt physically, barrel by barrel, vessel by vessel and storage tank by storage tank.
Peter Weernink, CEO of Swiss Marine, said that before ships move through a dangerous chokepoint, “you really need clarity that you won’t be shot at.” It was a simple line, but it captured the reality of physical trade. Insurance, crew safety, sanctions, port readiness and government coordination all matter before a cargo can move.
Governments as Active Participants
I was also struck by how frequently governments appeared in the conversation, not at the margins, but as active market participants. This came through in references to strategic reserve releases, export credit support, sanctions policy, critical minerals, government stockpiling and direct engagement with traders. The implication is important. Volatility is no longer only a market problem to be arbitraged. It is also a policy problem, a financing problem and, increasingly, a diplomatic one.
Marco Dunand, CEO of Mercuria, captured this neatly when discussing strategic mineral inventories. “The risk, in my opinion, would be not to have a stockpile,” he said. It might sound simple, but it speaks to a wider change in mindset. For years, many companies and governments optimised for cost, efficiency and global flow. Now, the conversation has shifted towards access, control, redundancy and security of supply.
The Middle East discussion widened the lens further. The region remains central to hydrocarbons, but it is also pursuing broader ambitions in metals, minerals, trading and industrial diversification. The recent crisis did not remove those ambitions. If anything, it reinforced the need for regional value chains, alternative routes, strategic partnerships and greater physical presence in the markets that matter.
The same dynamic was clear in copper and critical minerals. Governments are no longer passive observers of commodity flows. They are financing, partnering, stockpiling and, in some cases, trying to reshape supply chains around strategic interests. Bold Baatar, Chief Commercial Officer of Rio Tinto captured the scale of the challenge when he noted that over the next 25 years, the world is expected to consume more copper than it has consumed throughout all of history. For trading houses and producers, that means technical competence is no longer enough. Leaders need to understand policy, geopolitics and stakeholder management as part of the commercial landscape.
What Volatility Means for Hiring in Commodities
From a recruitment perspective, all of this matters a great deal. When volatility becomes structural, hiring priorities broaden. Firms still need strong commercial talent, but the summit made clear that they also need deeper benches in risk, treasury, structured finance, operations, freight, analytics, compliance, shipping, power and metals. They need leaders who can stay composed when the market is short of clarity, not just when it is moving in their favour.
The CFO panel reinforced that conclusion from another direction. Even as profits normalise from the exceptional highs of recent crisis years, the leading houses did not sound complacent. The discussion centred on scenario analysis, backup credit lines, extreme stress tests, liquidity planning and the need to move quickly when market conditions shift. One executive described stepping into the role during turmoil as a “baptism of fire,” while another remarked that a new crisis seems to arrive every two years. Those comments were light in tone, but serious in implication. Finance leaders now sit much closer to the centre of strategy than many outside the industry still recognise.
There is also a premium on people who understand the physical business. Some of the sharpest insights in Lausanne came from the disconnect between the paper market and what was actually happening on the water, in storage, at refineries, in power systems or further up the mining supply chain. The ability to connect financial exposure with operational reality is becoming more valuable.
Sebastian Barrack, Head of Commodities at Citadel, made a similar point in his interview, noting that sustained trading performance depends not on short-term signals alone, but on disciplined research, scenario analysis and a clear understanding of physical market fundamentals. That distinction matters for hiring. In a market where information moves faster than ever, the advantage increasingly lies with people who can separate signal from noise, connect financial exposure to real-world constraints and act with discipline under pressure.
Culture came up often, directly and indirectly. Employers are looking for people who can improve processes, share information quickly, take responsibility and work across silos. Technical expertise matters, but under pressure the differentiator is often judgment. As someone who leads energy and commodities search, I left Lausanne thinking that some of the best hiring decisions in this cycle will be the ones that recognise character as a form of risk management.
Rethinking Talent in an Uncertain Market
The summit sharpened something I have felt building for some time. In commodities, talent strategy is now much closer to business strategy than many companies still admit. If a firm expects more geopolitical disruption, more financing complexity, longer supply chains, greater government involvement and more frequent cross-commodity shocks, it cannot recruit as if the next few years will resemble a more stable period.
It must build depth, not just star power. It must think more carefully about succession. It must value people who can connect commercial ambition with operational discipline. And it has to reward leaders who can make decisions before the full picture is available, while still protecting the business from avoidable risk.
My main takeaway from the FT Commodities Global Summit is simple. Volatility is no longer the exception that interrupts the market. It is the condition in which the market now operates. The businesses that stand out will not be the ones that merely endure it. They will be the ones that organise for it, finance for it and hire for it.
Ailing Huang, Executive Director, is Kerry Consulting’s Practice Lead for Energy & Commodities. Keen to discuss your hiring strategy? Reach out today at ailing@kerryconsulting.com.