Letter from London: Trading the transition

Commodity trading companies are set for a key role in shaping green supply chains and providing carbon market liquidity

Commodity trading companies are emerging as key players in the energy transition. Flush with huge cash reserves generated on the back of recent oil and gas price volatility, large independent traders such as Trafigura, Glencore, Gunvor, Vitol and Mercuria are well placed to invest in the new green supply chains that will form the backbone of the transition over the coming decades. They are also set to be important drivers of liquidity in carbon markets. “Commodity traders are working more closely with governments to ensure security of energy supply and to support new green value chains,” said consulting company Oliver Wyman in a recent report. “By doing so, the job of a trader transitions fr