Paul Chapman, HC Group
356 episodes listed below
Market mechanics behind the commodity headlines.
The HC Commodities Podcast treats commodities as a working system of flows, contracts, infrastructure, and political pressure. Its interviews move from current shocks to the market mechanics underneath them, whether the subject is European power, tungsten, crude, copper, gold, or spice history.
PRESS PLAY
The HC Commodities Podcast is a serious interview series about commodities as they are actually traded, moved, priced, and politicized. Its center of gravity is the physical market. Episodes tend to begin with a large question, such as what war risk means for crude flows, why tungsten prices have moved so sharply, or how European power demand has changed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Then the conversation narrows. Paul Chapman presses guests on timing, magnitude, infrastructure, liquidity, contracts, and the second-order effects that can get lost when commodities are reduced to price charts. The show is especially strong when events are moving quickly. Recent emergency-style episodes on Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, CERA Week sentiment, and crude volatility treat uncertainty as something to map carefully rather than dramatize. They ask who still receives barrels, which routes matter, where fear and greed sit in the market, and how governments and buyers respond when supply confidence breaks down. The metals coverage works in the same register. A tungsten episode moves from military and industrial use into MTU pricing, APT references, China-linked supply constraints, OTC trading, and the thinning of spot liquidity. A copper and gold conversation uses the contrast between an industrial metal and a store of value to separate physical fundamentals from investor narrative. European power coverage brings weather forecasting, renewable output, consumption peaks, outages, and commodity inputs into the same analytical frame. Not every episode is about present-day crisis. The show also reaches backward, as in its discussion of nutmeg, cloves, mace, and the 16th-century commodity forces that helped shape technological change, geopolitics, and the modern trading world. Across these subjects, the pacing stays measured. The conversations are dense, but they are not opaque. Guests are given space to build an argument, and the questioning keeps returning to causality: why this price, why this route, why this contract structure, why now. The show suits financially and politically literate listeners who want commodities explained through market plumbing rather than slogans. It is useful for traders, analysts, energy and mining professionals, policy watchers, and anyone trying to understand how physical scarcity becomes financial and geopolitical consequence.
Made for: For commodities professionals, investors, analysts, energy and mining observers, and policy-minded listeners who can follow technical market structure. It rewards people who want causal detail rather than simplified price commentary.
What sets it apart: The show keeps geopolitical and macro claims anchored to the physical market: flows, units, curves, contracts, routes, and infrastructure. Its interviews are patient enough to let uncertainty remain conditional while still forcing practical trading implications into view.
Each day, around the world, we have fascinating one-on-one conversations with our connections in the commodities sector. Our collaborators are uniquely informed, creative and inspirational in their fields. We want to provide our community a seat alongside us, listening in to these conversations in that special way podcasting provides as we tackle topical and people related issues with the leaders and leading minds in our sector. Visit www.hcgroup.global more information on us and our services. To connect with our host Paul Chapman, you can find him at www.linkedin.com/in/paulchapmanhc/
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Paul Chapman makes commodity markets legible by tracing headlines back to supply constraints, trading mechanics and operating decisions.
The HC Commodities Podcast turns market headlines into detailed conversations about the machinery underneath them. Paul Chapman repeatedly presses guests to connect large forces, from geopolitics and energy demand to technology, with price formation, physical supply and the…
Paul Chapman turns tungsten pricing and Gulf chokepoints into the questions your market brief forgot to ask.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A clear look at how European power trading absorbs geopolitical shocks.
European power trading is framed as a market where geopolitics, demand, and fuel price risk all collide. The discussion stays centered on Europe after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, then widens to ask whether the US and Israeli attack on Iran has shifted the demand picture again.
A sharp guide to a metal whose pricing reflects military demand, industrial use, and thin market liquidity.
Tungsten sits at the intersection of military and industrial demand, and the piece uses William Parry Jones's background in sales, sourcing, and metals trading to show why prices have jumped tenfold in the past year.
A focused look at how Middle East conflict can ripple through commodities, logistics, and Gulf supply chains.
Paul Chapman and Nick Cumleven treat Middle East escalation less as a headline and more as a systems problem. The conversation reaches past crude and LNG into fertilizer, sulfuric acid, food imports, desalination, and the choke points that can turn geopolitics into market…
A sober IE Week discussion of rising energy demand, supply risk, and the long-term market picture.
IE Week is framed as a focused look at energy demand and supply, with Claudio Gallimberti laying out Reistad's house view and the pressure points around AI, the global south, and a possible energy glut.
A sober look at how AI could reshape commodities operations while leaving final judgment with the trader.
The conversation keeps its focus on how AI may change commodities operating models, with digital assets and DeFi treated as nearby pressure points rather than separate stories.
BBC's daily business show, from toy-industry founders to Anthropic's Pentagon standoff.
European power demand and trading drive this conversation.
The podcast turns to tungsten.
This episode explores the pricing dynamics of copper and gold, distinguishing between physical supply-demand factors and investor narratives, with insights from commodities analyst Grant Sporre.
This episode discusses the impact of the Iran war on global energy markets, featuring insights from CERA Week about market sentiment, supply disruptions, and geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
This episode explores how nutmeg and cloves drove technological, political, and economic changes in the 16th century, shaping the modern commodities sector, with historian Roger Crowley.
Host Paul Chapman interviews Tom Reid of Argus Media about crude oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz and the impact of geopolitical events on global markets.
A discussion on current oil market disruptions and long-term impacts of underinvestment in physical assets.
Host Paul Chapman and guest Nick Kumleben discuss the dramatic crude oil price moves and cascading consequences for the commodities sector amid geopolitical events.
An interview with a private equity firm co-founder discussing U.S.
Interview with Luca Pedretti of Pexapark about how volatility and battery storage are reshaping clean energy markets and power purchase agreements.
Paul Chapman brings Nick Cumleven back for another emergency pod.
Paul Chapman opens by framing the episode around the questions raised during IE Week in London.
Paul Chapman opens with a direct question about AI and commodities operating models.
An interview with a McKinsey partner discussing the future of commodity trading, volatility, and market structure over the next decade.
An interview with a soft commodities expert discussing record prices and volatility in coffee, cocoa, and sugar markets in 2025.
Host Paul Chapman interviews David Fyfe, Chief Economist of Argus, about macroeconomic trends and the impact of tariffs on energy and commodity markets in 2025-2026.
An interview with Homayoun Palakshahi of Kepler discussing crude oil market trends in late 2025 and the outlook for 2026.
Interview with BCG partner Ante Belt about the hidden profit opportunities in commodities trading and why many organizations fail to capitalize on them.
Host Paul Chapman interviews author Mark Kalansky about how commodities like salt and cod have shaped history and the current world.
This live podcast episode features a panel discussion with commodities experts exploring how traders should adapt their strategies to shifting geopolitical factors beyond traditional fundamentals.
An interview with systematic trader Hans Balgobin discussing what systematic trading is, how it generates returns, and its role in commodities markets.
This episode features a live panel discussion from the Canadian Crude Oil Conference, moderated by Paul Chapman, focusing on Canadian crude oil production and energy equities in volatile market conditions.
This episode discusses international contract disputes and arbitration in the commodities sector, featuring a partner from an international law firm.
A podcast discussing business planning challenges in the volatile commodities sector, featuring an expert guest and promoting a live event on adapting trading strategies to geopolitical shifts.
This episode features an interview with Shaia Hosseinzadeh, founder and CIO of Onyx Point Global Management, discussing key narratives, opportunities, and impacts of policy and geopolitical volatility on commodities investing, including potential stagflation scenarios.
Host Paul Chapman interviews Colin Bryce about his book on the social and economic history of modern oil trading.
Host Paul Chapman discusses critical minerals yttrium, rhenium, and graphite with Eli Saklatvala to explore supply chain challenges and pricing.
An interview with Chris Miller discussing the history, geopolitics, and future of semiconductors.
A deep dive into the complexities of being a transaction lawyer in the energy transition, covering pain points, policy impacts, and future outlook.
This episode explores how the electrification of defense intersects with the energy transition and critical minerals, highlighting supply chain vulnerabilities in China that threaten Western military capabilities.
An interview with an agricultural economist about his book on how agricultural markets behaved during major global conflicts.
This episode discusses the lithium market's challenges in 2024, including price drops and oversupply, with expert Kasper Rawls from Benchmark exploring the long-term outlook, technology, geopolitics, and new futures contracts.
A podcast episode discussing US permitting and regulation for energy and mining projects in the context of the energy transition and recent Supreme Court decisions.