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The HC Commodities Podcast

The HC Commodities Podcast

Paul Chapman, HC Group 335 Episodes Aug 18, 2026

The HC Commodities Podcast features daily one-on-one conversations with leaders and experts in the commodities sector. Host Paul Chapman and the HC Group team discuss topical issues and people-related stories, providing listeners with unique insights from the industry. The podcast aims to give the community a seat alongside these engaging dialogues.

Episodes

Trapped in Hormuz: Total War or a New World Disorder? with Jeff Currie
Trapped in Hormuz: Total War or a New World Disorder? with Jeff Currie Aug 18, 2026 00:53:41 Ultimately, the US faces a stark binary choice: defeat Iran or retreat. Both carry profound implications for the post-war Bretton Woods order that has shaped modern economies and the commodity flows that sustain them. Indeed, it is precisely those commodity flows that both define this binary choice and make commitment to either path so difficult. Jeff Currie, Co-Founder of 1947 Oil & Gas, returns
Sand: The most important commodity in the modern world with Vince Beiser (Summer Repeat)
Sand: The most important commodity in the modern world with Vince Beiser (Summer Repeat) Aug 11, 2026 00:46:56 Sand has transformed modern civilization. It is the ubiquitous commodity; in our infrastructure, in our industry and even in our personal care products.  Yet due to its characteristics, the supply chain is fragmented, disastrous for our environment and often corrupt. And by a tragic quirk of geometry, desert sand is unusable meaning we wreck our riverbeds and oceans to acquire it. In this episode,
The Coming El Niño with Michael Ferrari
The Coming El Niño with Michael Ferrari Aug 4, 2026 00:53:04 Today we discuss El Niño - the dramatic, periodic, shift in climate patterns, that depending on intensity and duration can have profound impacts on our world, economies, and the commodities sector. And as of right now, we are back in an El Niño and it is expected to be one of the strongest on records. What are the known impacts? And how might the state of the world today, with the closure of the S
Real-Ekonomik: The Iran War's Longevity with Nick Kumleben
Real-Ekonomik: The Iran War's Longevity with Nick Kumleben Jul 29, 2026 00:57:30 We return in a special episode to the Iranian-US war to discuss how "Real-Ekonomik" is shaping realpolitik. Nick Kumleben, Director at Greenmantle, the geopolitical risk and strategy consultancy, where Nick handles the energy and commodities portfolio, joins us to discuss the status of the war and its potential future track. We use commodities and more broadly economics to try and understand the s
Chip War: how semiconductors became the new oil with Chris Miller (summer repeat)
Chip War: how semiconductors became the new oil with Chris Miller (summer repeat) Jul 28, 2026 00:55:12 Semi-conductors, microchips, are the new oil - the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. This has only accelerated with the emergence of AI. Yet, the supply chain is incredibly concentrated with just a handful of countries and companies dominating. As with oil in the previous century, chips
The Price of Money with Edward Chancellor (Summer Repeat)
The Price of Money with Edward Chancellor (Summer Repeat) Jul 21, 2026 01:01:45 Today, we are talking interest rates. The rate of interest, or the price of money, has a profound impact on the energy and commodities sector, influencing the cost of carry, the price of assets and investment decisions. The story we're about to tell is what happens to economies and societies and the energy and commodities sector when interest rates are unnaturally low, as after the global financia
Solar Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections with Edl Schamiloglu (Summer Repeat)
Solar Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections with Edl Schamiloglu (Summer Repeat) Jul 14, 2026 00:42:11 In this episode, we discuss geomagnetic storms, extreme electromagnetic events known as coronal mass ejections that would destroy every satellite around the planet, wipe out power grids and most if not all of our electronics. The Carrington event that happened in 1859 destroyed the only electrical system at that point, the telegraph, across all of North America. An event such as that now would hav
Whale Oil with Eric Jay Dolin (Summer Repeat)
Whale Oil with Eric Jay Dolin (Summer Repeat) Jul 7, 2026 00:48:47 In 1859, illumination throughout the major metropolises of the West was powered by whale oil. Whale oil was at the center of international trade (and trade disputes). Prices were at an all time high and great fortunes had been made. Yet, in that same year, Edwin Drake started the oil rush in Titusville, Pennsylvania…and every thing changed. Quickly. What lessons are there in this first energy tran
De-Dollarization, Debasement & Diversification: Precious Metals with Nicky Shiels
De-Dollarization, Debasement & Diversification: Precious Metals with Nicky Shiels Jun 30, 2026 00:47:31 Today we discuss gold, silver and the platinum group metals. What drove the huge run-up in prices for all of them in 2025 and into 2026, and was the US-Iran war just a setback to those prices or the end of a bull market? Our guest is Nicky Shiels, Head of Research and Strategy for MKS Pamp, a global trading house and refiner for precious metals serving a diverse and global customer base. For relat
Data Centers aren't the bubble with Eugene McGrane
Data Centers aren't the bubble with Eugene McGrane Jun 23, 2026 00:55:18 Today we return to the subject of data centers. Are we in the midst of a huge AI bubble? And building over capacity in data centers that are destined to end up as dusty sheds in the middle of nowhere with huge power supplies attached, or are data centers the rate limiting factor and the crucial midstream of the future industrial age? Here to discuss bubbles and data centers is Eugene McGrane, Exec
Why is oil so cheap? With David Wech
Why is oil so cheap? With David Wech Jun 16, 2026 00:48:11 Today, we return to the subject of oil and the impact of the Iran War. How have flows and demand changed and why are prices so relatively low? Is this a function of great PR work on behalf of the US Administration?  Or is something else happening? Why, contrary to all expectations, oil prices remain relatively subdued? And how long can this go on for? Here to answer those questions is David Wech,
Digital Assets and the Blockchain Renaissance with Joe Miscioscia
Digital Assets and the Blockchain Renaissance with Joe Miscioscia Jun 9, 2026 00:48:00 Today we return to digital assets, quant trading and blockchain infrastructure. Since we last checked in on the space in the wake of FTX's collapse, digital assets, crypto trading, blockchain infrastructure has recovered and gone mainstream. From major institutions and hedge funds having multiple desks to the rise of blockchain infrastructure in settlements and payments - not only in the commoditi

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