Commodity Trading Profits of $95 Billion Set Baseline for Growth

Commodity trading profits of $95 billion last year provide a “baseline for future growth,” even as markets normalize following a period of extreme volatility, according to Oliver Wyman LLC.

While 2024 was the sector’s third-most profitable year on record, gross margins were 20% to 25% lower than 2023, the consultancy said in its annual report on the industry. Trading houses are coming off by far the most profitable period in their histories after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions turbocharged volatility and created supply shortfalls of energy, agricultural goods and metals.

Those bumper earnings have been invested in ...