SPECIAL UNIT ON COMMODITIES

Commodity finance and risk management

Frida Youssef UNCTAD
Palais de lONU Geneva, 18 Feb 10

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I.

Commodity finance

Introduction Traditional finance vs Structured finance Examples

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Introduction: access to finance in commodity trade and development

Importance of the commodity sector for developing economies and financial constraints:

- Over 2 billion people are estimated to derive their livelihood from production and trade of commodities; - More than 50 developing countries and LDCs depend on three or less leading commodities for at least half of their export earnings.
Commodity trade and production is credit-intensive. Risks in commodity finance.

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Traditional finance (balance sheet based) vs Structured finance (transaction based)

Economics, and political events that have global implications, especially in emerging markets, have compelled financiers to develop and adopt innovative, structured financing techniques to mitigate their risks and adapt to globalization and privatization of commodity trading activities. - Until the onset of the Latin American financial crisis in the mid-80s, banks involved international commodity finance relied on balance sheet lending and government guarantee.
Structured finance, on the other hand, is based on the transaction for which the finance is provided. - Such techniques aim to transfer risks in financing transaction from parties less able to support those risks to those more equipped to support them in a manner that ensures automatic reimbursement of advances from the underlying assets such as inventory and export receivables... This forms the pillar of structured trade finance. Structured finance revolves around identify and mitigating risks associated with transactions..and convert wealth, in the form of commodities, into ready cash.

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Through use of structuring techniques, financiers can control their level of risk
Without structured finance: financier Will the borrower reimburse? Potential borrower With secured finance: financier How to control collateral? With structured finance: financier Will the borrower produce? $

Potential Goods borrower

Potential Offtaker borrower

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Practical use of structured trade finance:

There are no distinct standardized types of structure trade finance transactions since one essential principle of these transaction is the ability to tailor a structure that will satisfy the needs and circumstances of all parties involved, provided that perceived or real risks are mitigated. We are going to present some basic forms of structured finance, their concept, and transactions flow.

1. Export receivables-backed financing 2. Supply Chain finance 3. Warehouse receipts finance

Success Factors Along The Value Chain

Transport Transport Storage Storage Agricultural Agri Inputs Value Chain Agricultural Production Commodity Sales Manufacture/ Further Processing/ Packaging

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Financing Stages

Production / Processing

Trade / Export

Wholesale

Agri Players

Local Local producers & processors; producers & processors farmers; Commercial Commercial farmers input suppliers. International International input suppliers

Small commodity traders Large commodity traders

Local distributors F&B multinationals Wholesalers.

Producers Processors Input financing; Working capital/basic cash Crop risk management weather insurance Structured finance: WRS/inventory based finance, etc..

Commodity Traders
Working capital/liquidity;

Buyers
Working capital; Trade finance; Price risk management; Structured finance: receivables-

Financing Needs

Structured trade finance and collateral management, etc.; Price risk management;

back finance, pre-payment etc.

Foreign exchange.

Foreign exchange.

Pre-shipment finance

Post-shipment finance

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Export receivables-backed financing

This model entails the provision of pre-export loans or advance payment facilities to an exporter, with repayment being obtained from the exporters receivables resulting from the sale of the pre-financed exported commodities.

Under this model, banks take the following combined measures:

(a) Taking security over the physical commodities in the form of a local-law pledge or similar security interest; (b) Assigning the receivables generated under the commodity export contracts; (c) Establishing an escrow account in a suitable (usually offshore) location into which buyers of the commodity are directed to pay the assigned export receivables.

EXAMPLE: Financing

Receivable-Based

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1. Underlying transaction: To trade naphtha and crude oil. 2. Lender: XYZ Bank.
Shipment

3. Facility Amount: US$ 50 million for credit facility. 4. Exporter: Oil company 5.. Importers: oil refineries worldwide. 7. Tenor: 30-90 days from B/L date. 8. Collateral: Outstanding account receivables. 9. Facility Period: 1 year. 10. Each transaction amount: Over US$5 million.

Exporter

Buyers (Oil Refineries)

Letter of Acknowledgment

Payment at shipment

Letter of Undertaking (remedial procedures in case of non-performance)

Assignment of contract/A/R etc..

XYZ Bank

Payment after 30-90 days from B/L date through an escrow account

This financing is given to the exporter once goods are shipped and repayment is done automatically by importer through an escrow account.
This creates an automatic reimbursement procedure. This enables exporters to use future trade flows to raise self-liquidating export-based financing at better cost and tenor. It also enables financiers to externalize country and credit risks by the assignment of export contracts and receivables, and by receiving payment in an offshore escrow account.

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Example - revolving pre-export finance for fishermen and a fish processing plant
Local bank
Monitoring

Foreign bank
Loan used for buying oil

Diesel oil
Diesel

Reimbursement

Fisher men

Fish Fish

Processor/ freezing Fish plant

Foreign buyers

Local market

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A simple warehouse receipt finance scheme - open to various depositors. This

can act as a model to reach farmers - who are often willing to pay high interest rates.

4. Provide credit 3.Lodges receipts with bank

Farmer

1. Deposits products

Banks

5.Signs sales contract 2.Issues receipts

Warehouse

Guarantee, insurance, etc.

Trader

9. Delivers receipt; warehouse makes delivery

Guarantee agencies
Approves Warehouse

Government regulator

6. Reimburses credit; in return, bank transfers receipts

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An example of using a collateral manager to finance South-South trade

Bank

Acceptable payment will allow rice to be released from import warehouse

Payment when goods enter into warehouse controlled by the collateral manager

Rice exporter

Warehouse

Warehouse

Rice Importer

Collateral manager takes full control from moment on that goods enter export warehouse, until release (as authorized by the bank) from the import warehouse. The bank will have recourse to him for most losses during this period.

Collateral management agreement

Collateral manager

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Commodities will increasingly become a financial asset any commodity will be like a currency. Financial markets will develop around these new currencies. Independent entities will be doing the leg work to convert commodities, as they move through the value change, into financial assets.

Commodities

Money

Paper

Technology will link it all together through a Global Commodity Receipt system.

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WRS in Tanzania
- The CFC funded Coffee and Cotton marketing development project which was launched in 1999.

- Tanzania has passed a Warehouse Receipts Act (2005) and Warehouse Regulations (2006),
- and has designated a Licensing Board in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Marketing -This has registered some 20 warehouses (12 for cashew, 5 for coffee, 2 for cotton and 2 for paddy rice), and plans to establish a fully-fledged licensing regime.

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WRS in Tanzania
Commodities Finance includes: - Traditional crops (coffee, cotton) has expanded their loans portfolio at ground level.
The WRS has taken off with coffee since the latter 90s and 25% - 30% of the countrys exports are reported to pass through the system, much of it supplied by POs (farmer business groups, primary cooperative societies etc.) that bulk on behalf of their members.

- Non traditional crops such as Paddy (MF-linked approach, with upward of 10,000 tonnes being stored by farmers per year), Maize and sunflowers are recognized and getting finance from the bank.
- Cashew nut WRS initiative emerged in 2007. More than 168 primary cooperative societies in cashew nuts sub sectors are financed in in the business of raw cashew nuts. Total loan portfolio in cashew nuts WRS finance exceed U$50 million.

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II. Price risk management

Describing briefly organised and over-thecounter markets Hedging tools

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Hedging
Market used for risk management is divided in two part

Commodity exchange

Over-the-counter market

Although the basic ways to use these tools can easily be learned, hedging strategies can become quite complex. Even with a good mastery of these instruments, some difficulties exist, due to:

The need to pay margin deposits/guarantees Margin calls, which could be required, and which can be high The fact that in some countries, intermediaries do not really exist, or even use of these markets is banned

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Tools for Commodity Risk Management

Specification of price or minimum price in contracts for sale of commodities by farmers or processors at future date Forward and futures contracts
Forward contracts negotiated on individual basis Futures contracts specified on commodity exchanges Options is right and not obligation to purchase or sell a commodity at a a strike price on or before a specified date pay a premium at time contract signed

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Concept of price risk management

Financial markets provide possibilities to hedge against price risks. These hedging instruments are:
Futures Options (put, call) Swaps

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Futures
Futures are kind of standardised contracts for future delivery of an asset (that could be commodity). There are: Useful for some marketing strategies
Initial position can easily be reversed Delivery is not necessarily implied No need to negotiate contract specifications

Helpful to hedge price risk exposure

Lock-in a future price Protect the value of inventories or finance storage

An ideal benchmark price

Give a good benchmark price to barter

These kinds of contracts are regulated by exchanges authorities, and there execution are guarantee by clearing houses.

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Differences between Forward and Futures Contracts

Forward Contracts Most are traded OTC Futures Contracts Are traded on organized through clearing houses exchanges

Can be tailor-made to match specific Have standardized contract terms hedging needs Require cash transfer only at maturity of Require initial transfer for margin contract payments and may require daily settlements to adjust margins to adverse price movements Involve a high degree of counterparty risk Imply very little counterparty risk because no clearing house facility exists because the clearing house guarantees the fulfillment of contractual obligations Contain delivery the expectation of physical Only a small fraction of futures contracts result in actual delivery of the underlying commodity

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Options
Options contracts give the right (but not the obligation), to purchase or sell a specific asset at a predetermined price on or before a specified date. There are two kinds of options contracts: Call option US call: the right to buy at any time during the period. European call: the right to buy, but only at the end of the period. Put option US put: the right to sell at any time during the period. European put: the right to sell, but only at the end of the period. Main use are for: Obtaining short-term finance
An over-the-counter financing

Part of marketing strategy

In regard of longer-term trade relationships

Protection against unfavourable price movements

Limits the size of the maximum loss but do not eliminate the opportunity to take advantage of favourable price movements

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Swaps
A swap is a purely financial instrument under which specified cash-flows are exchanged at specified intervals.

Guarantee income streams

From financial operations or new investments

Obtain easier and cheaper access to capital

No or less-strict margin calls Low administrative costs once structured Tailor-made

Lock in longterm prices

Long term instrument Combination of price hedging and investment securization

It should be noticed that swaps are purely financial tools, which means that no delivery of physical are requested.

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Coffee Cooperative in Tanzania

Multiple payments to farmers throughout the year
Minimum price when deliver coffee Supplementary payments based on price at which coffee sold on world market

Risk to cooperative of setting initial price

Too low, farmers sell elsewhere Too high, lose money

Mitigated through hedging in futures market

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Role of UNCTAD
UNCTAD has been a pioneer in helping commodity-developing countries address the commodity problematique including by advocating the importance of increased access to, and diversified sources of finance. One recent example, UNCTAD as part of its technical capacity activities (funded by the EC All ACP project), been looking at financing tools such as Factoring (discount of receivables) that would enable the integration of small scale farmers into the supply chains, such as of the tourist industry (the mainstay of many Caribbean territories economies) and supermarkets. Yet, nowadays, the problematique extends beyond the commodity sector and its traditional issues to cover other cross-cutting concerns, such as food insecurity, water shortage, climate change impact, energy security, and more broadly, sustainable commodity sector development. In other words, the challenge for UNCTAD and for all relevant stakeholders is of a greater magnitude today than it has ever been. To address the challenge, concerted and considered efforts are required at all levels, national, regional and international and from both the public as well as the private sector (including financiers, insurers, research, academia, enterprise, civil-society, etc).

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Role of UNCTAD
UNCTAD activities targeted to both public and private sectors include: Building perspectives on broad trends in financing and pinpointing the implications for development of commodity sectors and the institutions that serve them. Advising on the structuring of financing mechanisms Engaging in institution- and capacity-building and policy advice to implement new commodity financing and risk management schemes. Organizing large awareness-raising and networking workshops and highlevel conferences on financial techniques. Arranging tailored training programmes

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Thank you
frida.youssef@unctad.org

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The practicalities of risk management: the markets

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Commodity exchanges
Commodity exchanges are financial organised market where commodities are traded on standard contract. There exist a several commodity exchanges around the world, each place trading a certain part of commodities. Commodity exchanges provide Standardised contracts Main Commodity Exchange around the world: Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) Coffee Sugar and Cocoa Exchange (CSCE) New York Commodity Exchange (NYCE) London Metal Exchange (LME) International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) London Commodity Exchange (LCE) MATIF (Paris)

Strict controlled financial streams

Efficient market (due to the normally great volume of trade, clear information, control...) As shown, main commodity exchanges are located in USA and UK. There are the most efficient and can therefore provide good international benchmark prices for the commodity they trade.

Good international benchmark prices for the traded commodities Secured trade

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Over the counter market

The need for more sophisticated and specific hedging instrument has lead the over-thecounter market to be more and more used. This is mainly due to the fact that this kind of market provide: direct interaction between client and intermediary (bank, trade house, brokerage firm) contract uncontrolled by a clearing house tailor made contract long term hedging instruments

Nevertheless, it should be paid attention to the following fact: this market is not transparent

once entered into a transaction, it is very difficult to reverse

margin are not about to decrease, since contracts are not standardised (i.e. intermediaries try to keep contract highly tailor made then not competitive).