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.
About us
A student club for people curious about physical trade
CTSC is a student association at the University of St. Gallen. We run events on energy, agriculture, metals and freight, and anyone at HSG can join.
Our mission
A business degree will teach you to value a company, but almost never how a cargo of crude is bought, insured and shipped halfway around the world. That gap is why the club exists.
Everything here is run by students. We keep standing relationships with trading houses and shipping firms in Switzerland, and that is how we get speakers and office visits that are not otherwise open to students. Membership costs nothing and you do not need a finance background.
What we do
A semester programme built around the industry
Six to eight events a semester, in three formats.
Speaker sessions
A trader, charterer or analyst walks through their week and then takes questions until people run out. An hour on campus, followed by drinks.
Workshops & case studies
Small groups, laptops open. Past sessions covered freight economics and hedging a physical position.
Company visits & networking
We travel to trading floors in Switzerland for an office tour and lunch with the desk. Places are limited, so members get priority.
Focus areas
The four markets we follow
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.
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.
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.
About HSG
One of Europe's leading business universities
Founded in 1898, the University of St. Gallen holds the Triple Crown of EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA accreditation, which only around 120 schools worldwide manage. Its teaching is deliberately practice-oriented, mixing management, economics, law and international affairs. Students come from close to 100 countries, and that is who fills the room at our events.
Why join us
What membership gives you
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.
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.
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.