Singapore builds up local expertise for commodity trading sector

Singapore

EVERY two or three minutes, a ship arrives or leaves from Singapore carrying everything from cocoa to electronics, making Singapore the busiest port in the world by tonnage, according to a 2014 Global Trade Review (GTR) Asia report.

Meanwhile, local talent supply remains slow off the mark, especially since Singaporeans make up only about 60 per cent of the more than 14,000 workers in the industry, according to GTR Asia.

A lack of talent with the right skillsets may also pose a challenge for commodity trading companies.

For global agri-commodity firm Olam, positions in dairy farming, plantations, agronomy, manufacturing as well as trading and supply chains …