The HC Commodities Podcast

Eren Zekioglu, experienced trader and operations-tech executive from Glencore and Gunvor, explores how AI, digital assets and tokenisation are reshaping trading operating models. He contrasts hedge funds and trading houses, highlights agentic automation versus alpha generation, and outlines rapid shifts in settlement, middle/back office consolidation, and new DeFi-native entrants.

Walter Cronin, President and co-founder of White River Nutrition and expert in the soy complex. He explores soybeans' global role in animal feed and vegetable oil markets. He breaks down US processing shifts, Brazil's rise in production, geopolitics and supply concentration in the Americas. He discusses biofuels' impact on soybean oil and how GLP-1 drugs are reshaping protein demand.

Mike Howard, founder and CEO of Howard Energy Partners and chemical engineer, shares his perspective on energy’s growing demand and delivery challenges. He uses Texas as a case study. Topics include why shale scaled, the Texas paradox of high production but reliability gaps, market design and incentives, hyperscalers’ huge power needs, and the role of dispatchable capacity.

Jeff Currie, commodities and macro markets expert now working in private markets at Carlisle, offers a sharp take on metals' surge versus weak hydrocarbons. He discusses whether apparent gluts are political illusions, the risk of a big macro repricing, tech firms becoming asset-heavy, and how policy and geopolitics have reshaped supply and markets.

https://interactive.hcgroup.global/annual-review-2025-26/full-view.html For related content and to find out more about HC Group, a search firm dedicated to the energy & commodities sector, visit https://www.hcgroup.global

What drives global natural gas prices more: power politics or supply and demand? In this episode, we discuss the geo-politicization of natural gas and the challenge that presents to traders and investors alike. Why was 2025 such a difficult year for traders? And what are the most consequential stories in natural gas for 2026? H Returning to the show is Anne-Sophie Corbeau, Global Research Scholar at the Center for Global Energy Policy. For related content and to find out more about HC Group, a search firm dedicated to the energy & commodities sector, visit https://www.hcgroup.global

What is the future of commodity trading? Is volatility here to stay and thus the profit pools available continue to grow? What will the market structure look like in 10 years and who will be the privileged few that have built, or are building, commodity trading platforms to be able to capture that future? What will that future look like? Who will participate and which category of participant will have the greatest market share? And what will the teams and skill sets and people look like participating in that world? Our guest is Roland Rechsteiner, partner at McKinsey and the global head of their commodity trading and risk practice.  For related content and to find out more about HC Group, a search firm dedicated to the energy & commodities sector, visit https://www.hcgroup.global

Emergency Pod: Nick Kumleben of Greenmantle, the geopolitical risk consultancy headed by Niall Ferguson, joins us to discuss the events in Venezuela, the 'Donroe' Doctrine and what it means for commodities. Is Venezuela an oil story or something else? Is the Donroe Doctrine a structured, intelligible set of principles or just a catchy phrase coined by a New York tabloid ? Intelligible or not, what does it mean for adversaries, allies (Denmark and Greenland?) and the rest of Latin America. Commodities once again sit at the heart of global power politics and it's through that lens we investigate. And what in turn does it mean for commodity markets themselves... can they withstand such unpredictability and government interventions. For related content and to find out more about HC Group, a search firm dedicated to the energy & commodities sector, visit https://www.hcgroup.global

Today, we are talking coffee, cocoa and sugar. And in the case of coffee and cocoa, the absolute wild ride they had in 2025.Record prices and extreme volatility. Was it all just a story of tariffs? Or is there something more fundamental going on? Our guest is Kona Haque. Head of Research for ED&F Man, one of the world's largest soft commodity traders that has recently been acquired by Hartree Partners For related content and to find out more about HC Group, a search firm dedicated to the energy & commodities sector, visit https://www.hcgroup.global

For a special episode we have the recording of a webinar, David Tannenbaum, the Director of Deep Blue Intelligence, and Carmella O’Hanlon from Blank Rome, discuss the US Coast Guard’s seizure of the Skipper, a Dark Fleet vessel, the legal basis underpinning it, and how the administration can enact a “blockade” of Venezuelan oil. They also discuss examples of typologies and red flags relating to Venezuela’s Dark Fleet, a what comes next. Please note: This taping occurred prior to the administration’s seizure of the Centuries and Bella 1, two other Dark Fleet tankers, on December 20th and 21st respectively.https://www.polestarglobal.com/deep-blue-intelligence/ For related content and to find out more about HC Group, a search firm dedicated to the energy & commodities sector, visit https://www.hcgroup.global