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Blog
Expert perspectives on commodity trading, customs compliance, trade finance, and supply chain technology.
Does the CEO of an SME commodity trading firm need a full-time risk manager?
Short answer: usually no, until revenue exceeds about £100M and headcount exceeds about 50, and you actively hedge. Below those thresholds the role's cost typically exceeds its value — and the work is better delivered by a CFO with the right software than by a dedicated hire.
The cash flow implications of hedging commodity positions with futures
Hedging trades P&L volatility for cash volatility. In stable markets the cash nets to zero; in trending markets it accumulates and can become large enough to force unwinds at exactly the wrong moment. A worked example, the cash buffer formula, and how to size hedges around your working capital.
The true total cost of owning an ION Trading or ETRM system in 2026
ION licence is 30–40% of true TCO. The other 60–70% lives in implementation, internal IT, upgrades, vendor consulting, scope-creep modules, and integration maintenance. A realistic 5-year TCO breakdown for a 30-user mid-market deployment, with the modern alternative compared line by line.
Do you still need an internal IT team if your ERP is SaaS?
Yes, but a fraction of what on-premise required, and the work is different. SaaS removes infrastructure, patching, DBA, and major upgrades. It does NOT remove identity, integrations, security governance, change management, data ownership, or end-user support. A practical staffing guide for a 50-person firm on a SaaS stack.
Cash Flow at Risk (CFAR) for commodity trading firms: a practical guide
CFAR tells you the maximum cash shortfall expected with a given confidence over a given horizon. For commodity traders it's often more important than VaR — firms don't go bankrupt from P&L losses, they go bankrupt running out of cash. The formula, a worked example, and a defensible policy template.
SimplyDuty vs customs-compliance.ai: A Feature-by-Feature Comparison for 2026
Tariff classification in 2026 is no longer a lookup problem — it's a reasoning problem. An honest, numbers-first comparison of SimplyDuty (rule-based lookup, ~130 countries, £29-£129/mo) and customs-compliance.ai (3-stage AI, 51 countries deep, Free/£14/£39/£99). Covers pricing, classification depth, country coverage, ERP integration, and the specific cases where each tool is the right choice.
CargoWise Alternatives for SME Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders in 2026
CargoWise is genuinely excellent for 50+ seat enterprise forwarders. For the £2M-£50M broker, forwarder or 3PL, it's wrong-sized. A direct comparison of CargoWise, tradePhlo, Descartes OneView, Magaya, AEB ASSIST4, CAS, BoxTop, and Kerridge — with honest pricing, implementation timelines, and a framework for picking by business shape rather than feature checklist.
Best Trade Finance Software for Commodity Trader CFOs in 2026
A CFO-grade guide to the trade finance software landscape from the borrower's perspective, not the lender's. Covers multi-facility visibility, covenant tracking, collateral cycling, and FX alignment for commodity traders running 4-12 lender relationships. Compares ERP-embedded treasury (SAP, Kyriba), borrower-facing platforms (Finastra, Surecomp, finPhlo), and when spreadsheets still work.
The 2026 CTRM Buyer's Guide: How to Evaluate Commodity Trading Software Without Regretting the Decision Three Years Later
A vendor-neutral buyer's guide for commodity trading and risk management software in 2026. How the landscape splits into three tiers, the eight dimensions that actually matter, the mistakes that turn good shortlists into bad decisions, and a 60-day evaluation timeline you can run tomorrow.
Descartes CustomsInfo Alternatives: AI Tariff Classification at SME Pricing in 2026
Descartes CustomsInfo is the enterprise incumbent for tariff data and classification — but the €200/month starting price climbs fast with modules and users, and the implementation curve is steep for SMEs and mid-market importers. Here are five credible alternatives with AI classification, honest pricing, and shorter time-to-value.
TriplePoint Alternatives for Mid-Market Commodity Traders in 2026
ION Trading's TriplePoint has been the incumbent CTRM for serious commodity traders for nearly two decades. But its £500K–£1.5M implementations and 12–18 month timelines leave mid-market firms overpaying or waiting too long to go live. Here are the six credible alternatives worth shortlisting in 2026, with an honest decision framework by company size.
We’re All Risk Managers Now
By David Gray , Sales and Growth Lead, Phlo Systems Ltd ‘In fifty years or so, It’s gonna change, you know, But it’s perfect...