01
Energy Markets
Crude, refined products, gas and power. We look at how a cargo gets priced, financed and hedged, and what the energy transition is doing to those trades.
Commodity Trading & Shipping Club
at the University of St. Gallen
CTSC is HSG's official student club for the commodity and maritime sectors. Each semester we bring practitioners to campus, tour brokerage floors and port terminals, and run hands-on workshops on pricing and risk.
- LCTA
- SISAM
- PETRACO
- THYSSENKRUPP
- LCTA
- SISAM
- PETRACO
- THYSSENKRUPP
- LCTA
- SISAM
- PETRACO
- THYSSENKRUPP
- LCTA
- SISAM
- PETRACO
- THYSSENKRUPP
Our mission
We are HSG students who spend our spare time on how physical commodities actually get bought, shipped and paid for. Each semester we bring traders and charterers to campus, visit trading floors in Switzerland, and run workshops where you price a cargo yourself instead of reading about someone else doing it.
Club in numbers
- 0
- Active members
- 00
- Partner organisations
- 0
- Events per year
- 0
- CHF membership fee
One system
Commodities and shipping are one chain
A cargo only makes money if every link holds. That is why we cover the trade and the freight side together.
- 01Production
- 02Trading
- 03Freight & Shipping
- 04Port
- 05End Market
What we cover
Four focus areas
Our speakers, workshops and visits keep coming back to the same four markets.
02
Agricultural Commodities
Grains and softs move on weather, freight and politics. Our sessions here cover origination and how a trader keeps a physical book balanced when the harvest surprises everyone.
03
Metals & Mining
Copper, aluminium and battery raw materials. A new mine takes a decade to build while demand shifts in months, which is what makes the pricing so interesting.
04
Freight & Shipping
Tankers, dry bulk and boxes. Freight rates usually decide whether an arbitrage works at all, so we spend real time on chartering basics and the FFA market.
Why join us
What membership gives you
01
Meet people who do the job
Our speakers are traders, charterers and analysts from firms in Geneva, Zug and Lugano. Most sessions end with an apéro, which is usually where the useful conversations happen.
02
Learn what the curriculum skips
You will read a charter party, price a cargo and work out why a barrel in Rotterdam is not worth the same as one in Singapore. No prior background needed.
03
Get closer to a first job
Our partners tell us about internships and graduate openings before they go public, and HSG alumni in the industry are usually happy to take a call before an interview.
Become a member
Two ways to join the club
Join the WhatsApp group and come to the events, or apply for a Teamie role and help run them.
Option 1
Regular member
Open to every HSG student, free of charge and with no application. Join the community, come to the events that interest you, and stay in the loop.
- Join our WhatsApp community for announcements and opportunities
- Access to all speaker sessions, workshops and company visits
- Invitations to apéros, dinners and networking with industry guests
- Job, internship and thesis opportunities shared by our partners
Option 2
Become a Teamie
Our active members — the people who actually run the club. Teamie spots are limited and filled through a short application each semester.
- Take ownership in Marketing, Events, Partnerships, Content or Finance
- Work directly with trading houses, shipowners and brokers
- Build a track record and a network before you graduate
- Shape the club's direction as part of the active team
Come meet us
Our events are open to every HSG student. No background in commodities required.