Western Rail Trader

Louis Dreyfus Company is a leading merchant and processor of agricultural goods. Our activities span the entire value chain from farm to fork, across a broad range of business lines, we leverage our global reach and extensive asset network to serve our customers and consumers around the world. Structured as a matrix organization of six geographical regions and ten platforms, Louis Dreyfus Company is active in over 100 countries and employs approximately 18,000 people globally.

This position is responsible for rail origination and logistics management of grains and oilseeds for LDC’s export terminals and processing assets.

• Originates grain and oilseeds from interior rail terminals
• Communicates with country network daily to drive information flow & strengthen customer relationships
• Optimizes rail and port/vessel logistics through coordination with balance of the KC rail team
• Identifies and executes arbitrage opportunities to maximize logistics value
• Works with US product line traders to develop & implement regional premium positioning strategy
• Ensures positions are accurately reflected & ties P&L out daily
• Stays abreast of market developments, ensuring timely group updates & interpretation of market data
• Coordinate information flow between departments to meet internal and external customer requirements
• Composes market wires, position updates, track lineups and vessel lineups as necessary
• Participates in customer visits and industry social events as well as LDC acreage and yield tours
• Uses historical information to analyze pricing trends and project forward market pricing outlook

• Ensures contracts are entered day of trade and fills/settlements are completed timely
• Learn CINCH & other internal application software
• Gathers news, statistics and information relative to individual commodity supply and demand from customers and trade sources, and distributes the information to the remainder of the group to support overall strategic trading/positioning (i.e., contributes to research function)
• Other duties as assigned

• Processes a variety of information and data to devise and execute trading strategies. Negotiates with trade counterparts to maximize corporate returns. Advises and recommends trading strategies, assesses risk pertaining to buying and selling and negotiates contract terms with clients.
• Prioritizes work schedule to meet deadlines and continuously adjusts priorities to resolve unexpected issues; works with little supervision and consults with supervisor regarding unusual problems or occurrences. Completes projects as assigned.

The following are required:

• Five or more years of experience in an agribusiness firm in a merchandising or trading capacity
• Thorough understanding of grain markets, basic trading and rail logistics
• Three or more years of direct position ownership & experience with logistics management
• Demonstrated strong negotiating skills and commercial understanding combined with the right commercial attitude and results orientation
• Capability to consolidate global and domestic market drivers into a point of view and executable trading strategy
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to select relevant information from a flow of information (distinction between main and side issues)
• Demonstrated ability to manage trading, logistics and execution risks
• Must have an extensive knowledge of the U.S. transportation systems, relationships with all the major transportation providers and a good working knowledge of grain trading and transportation
• Knowledge of railroad logistics specifically and vessel logistics preferably
• Knowledge of demurrage/despatch concepts helpful
• Familiarity with current commodity transportation issues
• Proficiency with MS Excel, database administration and online systems/websites
• Knowledge of fundamentals of grain accounting, basis/flat price trading and futures markets
• Strong organizational skills, and the ability to prioritize multiple tasks, prioritize workload, and meet tight deadlines
• Strong communication and documentation…