E-trade finance: the race is on

Although initial international trades have been struck, the financing of commodity trade online is not as easy as many first thought. The requirements of commodity importers and exporters are complex and financiers must come to terms with the logistics that are an essential part of the commodity trade chain. Jonathan Bell, editor of Euromoney’s sister publication Trade Finance, examines the issues

In the world of commodities, there are now electronic marketplaces (e-marketplaces) and exchanges for almost every kind of commodity and semi-finished product. These range from softs such as coffee, fish, flowers and grain to the hard side with steel, base metals, as well as oil products and chemicals.

For many casual observers, commodities may seem simple on the surface, a sack of coffee, a pile of aluminium ingots – but in fact commodity trading is immensely complex, and what seriously contributes to this complexity is the supply chain.

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