We introduce buyers and sellers, and stand behind the introduction.
If you are buying, we find the tonnage. If you are selling, we find the market. The introductions run through contacts built over years in multiple countries — producers, refineries, licence holders and, in several markets, government-owned companies — and CommoFlow contracts both sides as principal, so the introduction comes with a counterparty you can actually sign with.
We work across metals, minerals, fertilizer inputs and soft commodities, with origination focused on the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Africa and Australia.
Introductions that carry a contract
Most of what we do is matching a producer who has tonnage with a buyer who needs it, and standing between them as the contracting party. A mill in Turkey needs manganese ore at a grade its furnace can take; a smelter in Central Asia has it but has never exported to Turkey. We contract with both sides, so neither carries the other’s counterparty risk. Because we take title rather than a commission, our interest is in the cargo arriving on spec — not in the introduction being made.
Contacts in multiple countries, including government companies
The network behind the introductions has been built deal by deal: producers, smelters, refineries, mines and licence holders across the Gulf, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Africa and Australia — and in several of those countries it includes government-owned companies, the state producers and national resource companies that control much of the tonnage in their markets. When the material you need sits with a state enterprise that does not answer cold enquiries, an introduction from a counterparty they have already shipped against is the difference between a quote and silence.
Sourcing hard-to-find material
Some enquiries are not a matter of price but of finding the material at all: an unusual specification, a grade that only two or three plants produce, an origin that avoids a particular jurisdiction, or a volume too small for a major and too large for a local trader. We work these through the same network — and tell you honestly when something is not obtainable at the price being assumed.
Logistics behind every introduction
A price is only meaningful with a delivery basis behind it. We arrange rail, road, break-bulk, container and bulk vessel movements, including the trans-Caspian and Iranian corridors that landlocked Central Asian material has to use, and quote FOB, CFR or CIF so you are comparing like with like.
Verified counterparties only
Every party we introduce is KYC and KYB verified and sanctions-screened, with pre-shipment inspection through SGS, Intertek, Bureau Veritas or CIQ and quality arbitration written into the contract before loading. An introduction is only worth making if the cargo behind it can actually move.
How an enquiry runs
From first message to cargo on the water, five steps.
Tell us the requirement
Commodity, specification, volume, destination port and timing. For a sell-side enquiry: what you produce, capacity and current export routes.
We check it is real
We confirm the material exists at that specification and price, and tell you if the assumption behind the enquiry is wrong. This is the step that saves the most time.
Indicative offer
A delivered basis — FOB, CFR or CIF — with the index or benchmark the price is linked to, inspection regime, packing and payment terms stated openly.
Contract and inspection
Contract issued against verified counterparties, with inspection appointed and quality arbitration agreed before loading.
Shipment and delivery
Rail, port and vessel arranged, documents presented, cargo followed to discharge. One desk from enquiry through to arrival.
Common questions
Do you introduce parties for a fee, or trade as principal?
We trade as principal. CommoFlow contracts with the seller and separately with the buyer, takes title to the cargo and carries the associated risk. The introduction is real — the two businesses now know each other — but neither side is exposed to the other’s counterparty risk, because each contract is with us.
What does it mean that your contacts include government companies?
In several origination countries, a large share of production sits with state-owned producers and national resource companies. We have shipped against contracts with such companies, which is why an enquiry routed through us reaches a trading desk that already knows the buyer rather than a general inbox. We name specific counterparties only under NDA, and every introduction is sanctions-screened regardless of ownership.
Which regions do you cover?
Origination is concentrated in the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Africa and Australia. Delivery is worldwide, with the heaviest flows into China, India, Turkey, Europe and the Gulf. Our Dubai and Sydney offices cover those two ends of the trade.
What volumes do you handle?
It varies by commodity. Container parcels from around 5 tonnes for refined metals such as tin and silver, through 3,000–20,000 tonne concentrate and sulphur cargoes, up to bulk vessel shipments of 50,000 tonnes for ore and ferroalloys. Tell us the volume and we will say whether it fits.
Participate in purchasing a mine
Our other desk: buying the asset rather than the cargo.
Trading glossary
CFR, CIF, JORC, SHG and the rest.
What are you trying to buy, sell or find?
Send the commodity, specification, volume and destination — or, for a sell-side enquiry, what you produce and where it ships from today.
Contact our desk