Services
What a trading house actually does.
Five things, scoped to what we genuinely perform or arrange. Sourcing and placing cargoes is the core of it; the rest exists because a cargo that cannot be shipped, inspected, documented and paid for is not a transaction.
Supply
Supply and offtake
Spot cargoes and term supply of refined products, and offtake of production you need to place.
The core of the business is matching a cargo to a buyer on terms both sides can execute. That runs in both directions: sourcing a specified grade for a buyer against a delivery window, and taking production off a seller who needs a reliable outlet rather than a series of spot enquiries.
Spot business is quoted against a named load or discharge port, a quantity and a laycan. Term business is quoted per month with a pricing formula tied to a published assessment, which removes the argument about price from every individual lifting and leaves only the operational detail to agree.
What we need before quoting is the same in both cases: the grade, the quantity, the port and the delivery term. An enquiry carrying those four things can be answered. One that does not usually cannot, and asking for them is not obstruction — it is the difference between a price and a guess.
Pipework detail, illustrative
Chartering
Chartering and logistics coordination
Vessel nomination, fixture and voyage coordination on CIF and CFR business, and vessel vetting on FOB.
On CIF and CFR business we charter the vessel and run the voyage: fixing suitable tonnage for the parcel size and the receiving berth, agreeing laytime and demurrage terms, and giving the buyer the arrival notices the contract calls for.
On FOB business the buyer charters, and our role is the mirror image — checking the nominated vessel against the load terminal's requirements and confirming acceptance or rejecting it with reasons, early enough for the buyer to substitute rather than lose the laycan.
Parcel size and berth restrictions drive more failed transactions than price does. A discharge terminal that cannot take the vessel the parcel economics require is a problem best discovered during quoting, not after a contract is signed, which is why we ask about berth and draft restrictions at enquiry stage.
Storage
Storage and tank arrangements
Coordination of independent storage where a transaction calls for it, arranged case by case.
Some transactions need product held in tank rather than moved directly from one vessel to another: an in-terminal transfer between buyer and seller tanks, a tank takeover, or a dip-and-pay arrangement where the buyer's inspector gauges the tank before payment is released.
Where a transaction calls for that, we coordinate with independent storage terminals at the relevant hub and confirm the specific facility and tank before the buyer commits to any inspection cost. Storage is arranged for the transaction in question rather than held speculatively.
We would rather be straightforward about the limits of this than not. Tank arrangements depend on capacity actually being available at the right terminal at the right time, and on the terminal accepting both parties under its own compliance requirements. Where that cannot be put in place, we will say so instead of letting a transaction drift.
Inspection
Independent inspection coordination
Appointment and coordination of an independent surveyor at load and, where contracted, at discharge.
Quantity and quality are determined by an independent inspection company appointed under the contract, not by the seller and not by the buyer. Its certificates are issued to both parties and are ordinarily final and binding for invoicing purposes, save for fraud or manifest error.
We coordinate that appointment: instructing the inspector, arranging terminal and vessel access, and making sure the sampling and gauging regime written into the contract is the one actually performed. Where the contract provides for a discharge-port inspection as well, we coordinate that in the same way.
This is a normal part of how the trade works rather than a credential. Buyers should expect it on any cargo they purchase, and should treat a seller who resists independent inspection, or who wants to nominate the inspector unilaterally, as a warning sign.
Documents
Documentation
Preparation and presentation of the shipping and payment document set, and the customary certificates.
A physical cargo transaction is settled on documents. The bill of lading, commercial invoice, certificate of origin and the inspection certificates are what the bank examines and what releases payment, and a set that does not conform is a set that does not pay.
We prepare the document set the contract calls for, present it under the payment instrument, and deal with the bank's queries. Where the buyer's letter of credit calls for a document that cannot realistically be produced for the trade in question, we raise it before the credit is opened rather than discovering it at presentation.
Legalisation and consular requirements vary considerably by destination and add real time to a transaction. Where the discharge country requires them, we will say what is needed and how long it takes at the point of quoting.
Scope
What we do not offer
We are a trading company. We do not refine, we do not own vessels, and we do not operate storage terminals. Where a transaction needs any of those, it is arranged with a third party who does, and we will tell you who that is rather than implying it is us.
We also do not provide financing to buyers, act as an agent for a refinery we have no contract with, or issue any instrument on behalf of a bank. If you are offered those things in this market, look closely at who is offering them.
Enquiries
Tell us what you need to buy.
An enquiry naming the product, the quantity, the destination port and the delivery term can be answered the same week. One missing two of those four generates a round of questions before anything can move.