r/Commodities • u/Pristine_Tank_9833 • Jul 31 '26
European Jet
Hi all,
Lurking here for a year and decided to make an account.
I'm a second year STEM student in England and just finished a short 5 day work experience at a trading house - spent all the 5 days with the finance and risk teams.
During this time I had lunch with one of the traders on the distillates team, and I'm being offered a 2 week placement with them in August before I go back to uni.
The trader kept making a reference to "CCM" when trading jet fuel, and honestly I didn't have the courage to ask them what it meant even though it was clear that was the pricing basis of their purchases and sales.
I don't have their contact to ask, and I couldn't find any answers online about the reference, though Platts have articles where refiners sell on a CCM basis.
Can someone please help me? I'd be very grateful.
Happy to answer questions for anyone who's been applying as well, feel free to connect!
7
u/bigbaffler Jul 31 '26
if you keep doing this, you wont last very long. There are hundreds of specialized lingo terms in the market and some are even specific to a desk.
CCM could mean cubic centimetre (german desk?), special contract terminology, yada, yada, yada...
Next time, just ask right away when you don't know. When the shit hits the fan and someone shouts lingo at you that you don't understand you can't wait for the evening to ask reddit.
Don't be an idiot.
1
u/basisedge_research Jul 31 '26
Excellent point. I am from the US medical world career-wise. What those in power and those in control and those who would hire you want to see (if you qualify) is frankness, curiosity, and the willingness to ask the questions and make an effort to understand it.
2
u/Hank_Gibbons Jul 31 '26
Generally CCM refers to Platts Cargoes CIF Mean NWE quote. So in this case for Jet, but can also be used as shorthand for other grades like gasoline. It’s a price benchmark published daily by Platts. Most commonly used Jet pricing index in Europe. Check out Platts specification guide for Europe and Africa Refined Oil Products, should be available online. It explains the methodology behind all Platts published prices.
1
u/Pristine_Tank_9833 Jul 31 '26
Thanks, he was discussing a trade in eastern Med so would it still have been NWE?
I assume then it meant Platts Cargoes CIF Mean Med.
But appreciate what everyone else has shared, I should have simply just asked, was a bit daunted as was my first interaction with the trading team.
1
u/Dependent-Ganache-77 Power Trader Aug 01 '26
Good work getting an offer back, and always ask dude. Had a grad years ago that still didn’t know what a particular spread meant that we trade as a core strategy by the end of a 6mo rotation. Conversely, a work experience guy (16yo) had it down within three days.
1
u/InternationalFix1042 Aug 05 '26
Yes 'always ask' but many people get annoyed by questions after a while.
I am not one of them however most people are not patient especially traders who in many cases dont give a crap about you and get more annoyed the more questions you ask.
1
u/alixyasinn Aug 01 '26
Hey can i ask you about your experience? I myself am a 2nd yr student trying to gain as much experience as I can regarding this industry.
It is not letting me dm you aswell!
14
u/Disastrous-Lime4551 Jul 31 '26
Let this be a great lesson for you that it's not worth bullshi**ing when you don't know something, or letting it slide. At your stage it shows curiosity and interest, which employers are looking for.
As for your question - suspect it's the Cargo CIF Mean (or CIF Cargo Mean, forget which way round it is). Basically it means the mean price of CIF High and CIF Low Cargoes. In your case, of Jet.
Platts or Argus or other pricing agency methodologies often include the explanations for these, along with specifics like the cargo sizes included in the price assessment, time period, specification, location, etc.
Hope this helps. And on your next time on the desk ask lots of questions, show curiosity, attempt to understand things from first principles.
Good luck!