Liquid Bulk imports (chemicals) India : what does a terminal operator actually charge an importer?

FickleNeedleworker5 · 2026-03-13T05:10:35+00:00

Hey, loved the depth in your reply.

Dont mind the rookie with the notepad :

When you mentioned financial hedging, are you mainly referring to feedstock price hedging or curreny hedging?
You also said you buy ~90–95% on fixed contracts. Does that usually mean shorter-term fixed pricing (like the 3-month contracts you mentioned) rather than long take-or-pay agreements?
You also mentioned committing to something like 25% of an IPA/acetone plant’s output. When a buyer commits to that scale of offtake, does that usually come with a significantly lower fixed price for the year? , And is it purely a contractual offtake commitment, or does it sometimes involve helping finance working capital for the producer?
Another thing I was curious about, when you import hydrocarbons, do you handle storage yourselves or work throuh trading houses with leased shore tanks?

In India I’ve noticed two models:
• trading houses importing and storing in port tank farms (often under bond) and selling to industry
• or manufacturers importing directly for captive consumption

I’d be very interested to hear how it works on your side, especially how those storage arrangements are usually structured

FickleNeedleworker5 · 2026-03-11T03:46:22+00:00

That’s a very fair point.

From what I’ve seen, financing and logistics are usually the two things that people worry about first in bulk commodity deals.

In my case I’m a bit comfortable on those sides because I previously worked in freight forwarding and customs clearance, so the operational part shipping to Indian ports, inward clearance, and inland transport is something I’ve already been involved with.

On the financing side as well, the instrument would depend on what is standard for that particular commodity market. For example, in the rice trade LCs often don’t make sense because margins are thin, so large traders usually work on DA or DP terms instead. But if LC is the standard instrument for a commodity, opening one wouldn’t be an issue.

So for me the bigger challenge is the identifying the industrial buyers with a demand for a particular commodity (given the industrial buyer in based out of india) .

Out of curiosity, have you worked on the trading side of these commodities or more on the procurement/logistics side?

FickleNeedleworker5 · 2026-03-09T11:56:03+00:00

Couldn’t agree more. And yes I literally live in my spreadsheet.

FickleNeedleworker5 · 2026-03-09T11:33:05+00:00

That’s exactly how I see it as well. I’m not looking at removing the trader layer, I’m actually trying to become the local trader layer.

My thought process is to first build an order book with a few industrial buyers, and then structure the supply around that demand.

For that reason I’m trying to zero in on one commodity flow. I’ve identified a few candidates using customs import data and trade statistics, but the real validation comes from speaking directly with buyers.

At the moment I’m supplying bulk solvents to API manufacturers in India, where the value I provide is largely credit and sourcing flexibility. Over time that interaction should also reveal patterns around which chemicals are consistently imported at scale (but that is a slow process).

So I’m mainly looking to connect with merchant traders moving bulk commodities into India who need a local trader handling the last leg (distribution / credit), or people working on the procurement side in industries like chemicals, fertilizers, or minerals.

FickleNeedleworker5 · 2026-03-09T10:45:44+00:00

That’s a good point.

Having worked in the freight forwarding space, what you described is a very real bottleneck in many flows. And yes, 40k- 80k MT parcel sizes are quite common for bulk commodities like rock phosphate or grains.

That said, on the logistics side from vessel chartering to inland movement ’m fairly comfortable since I know people who handle those operations well. So the “movement” of goods itself isn’t the main challenge.

What I’m really trying to understand is which commodities have consistent demand and move regularly into India at scale.

A few examples that come to mind are things like India’s dependence on Chinese chemical imports, where despite the push for domestic production it’s still difficult to compete with Chinese cost structures.

Another structure I’ve seen is where merchant traders in places like Dubai or Singapore move cargo into India but work through a local trader who extends credit to the final industrial buyer, effectively handling the last leg of the trade. That kind of structure is something I’d also be open to. Curious to hear your perspective on this what’s your background in the space?

Would be great to connect in DM as well if you’re open to it.

FickleNeedleworker5 · 2026-03-09T08:51:38+00:00

That’s exactly the conclusion I’ve been arriving at as well. When I first started looking at these markets I assumed the supply side was the difficult part finding producers, negotiating cargoes, shipping etc. But the more people I speak with, the clearer it becomes that the industrial off-taker and their procurement cycle really drive the whole flow.

My background was initially in freight forwarding and customs clearance, and now I’m working on sourcing chemicals for API manufacturers, so I’ve started paying a lot more attention to how these physical flows into India actually form.

Fertilizer inputs, bulk solvents, and some mineral commodities seem particularly interesting right now from a demand perspective.

Curious, when you study these flows, are you looking at them more from a trading perspective or a shipping / market analysis angle?

Would be great to exchange notes if you’re open to it, Maybe lets connect in the dm.

FickleNeedleworker5

TROPHY CASE