Commodities

Expanding international trade, particularly with countries in Asia and Africa, coupled with an ever diminishing distinction between trade and trade finance, has led to increased opportunity and risk in the global market place. With a deep knowledge of international trade and the risks that accompany it, our lawyers can help you navigate this rapidly changing environment.

Our experience ranges across a vast cross section of the commodities market including hard commodities such as minerals, ores and precious metals, soft commodities such as grains, oil seeds and sugar and energy based commodities such as oil & gas, wind and clean tech. Our clients include all participants in the commodities markets ranging from commodities houses to producers through to traders and banks.

Teacher Stern’s Corporate and Commercial teams advise on matters ranging from terms and conditions of trade, supply contracts, joint ventures, sale and purchase of assets and companies to listings on the stock exchange. Our Banking & Finance team advises across a wide spectrum of trade finance such as invoice discounting, factoring, letters of credit, performance guarantees and secured lending.

When disputes arise, as is an inevitable reality of international trade and the business relationships that underpin it, our Dispute Resolution team will be on hand to advise you. Our robust and commercially focused legal advice is always reflective of a deep understanding of the commodities sector and the constituent elements that comprise it. We have acted in a number of major disputes where commodity deals give rise to conflicts, multi-jurisdictional litigation and arbitration. We resolve disputes in many ways including by means of arbitration (often before Commodity Trade Tribunals under LME, Refined Sugar, COMEX, LMAA, ARIAS, GAFTA, LCIA, ICC, SIAC and VIAC Rules), court litigation and mediation.

Representative Experience

Examples of our commodities work include:

Advised an international commodities company in connection with the purchase of a commodities business consisting of food, industrial & medical commodities.
Advised a notable Russian commodity house in respect of a £20 million fraud predicated against it.
Advised Canadian metals billionaire, Herbert Black, in connection with a successful USD $50 million action against London Metal Exchange brokers.
Advised a well-known English commodities company in connection with a USD $15 million dispute with a supply company in Ghana.
Advised an Asian primary metals producer in connection with the recovery of confiscated assets involving Bilateral Investment Treaty arbitration and Norwich Pharmacal proceedings in London.
Advised a Fortune 1000 company in its arbitration proceedings relating to the development of a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in the Middle East.
Advised a Chinese based metals refiner in its LCIA arbitration proceedings relating to a claim made against it arising from its ore supply programme.
Advised VIAC Eastern European Export Bank in connection with a performance guarantee claim made against it.