How to become a trade broker
Official title: Trade broker
Also called: Sales and purchase broker, Sales and purchase broker
Trade broker buys and sells commodities on behalf of his/her clients on a commission basis. He/she establishes contact between buyers and sellers of commodities, discusses the buying or selling requirements of clients and gives advice accordingly, negotiates the purchase or sale of commodities and commodity futures and monitors and analyses market trends and other factors affecting the supply and demand for commodities and shipping services.
Main tasks
- Establishing contact between buyers and sellers of commodities
- Discussing buying or selling requirements of clients and giving advice accordingly
- Negotiating purchase or sale of commodities and commodity futures
- Finding cargo and/or storage space for commodities and negotiating freight, shipping and storage charges
- Monitoring and analysing market trends and other factors affecting the supply and demand for commodities and shipping services
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: $162,000 a year. The middle half earn $69,216 to $240,000 a year.
- Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.
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- Ship broker
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Questions people ask
How much does a trade broker earn in Singapore?
Median full-time pay is $162,000 a year (Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg)). The middle half earn $69,216 to $240,000.
Will AI change the work of a trade broker?
Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg): Resident Occupational Wages (Occupational Wage Survey) (June 2024 (data.gov.sg update 2026-04-01)), Singapore Open Data Licence v1.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026