Grain & Sugar Imports: Structuring 90-Day Bridge Finance Against Warehouse Receipts
Seasonal grain and sugar flows strain working capital: suppliers ship bulk, buyers pay 30-60 days post-delivery, banks insist on documents the minute cargo lands. A 90-day commodity import financing
line secured by warehouse receipt collateral
solves the cash squeeze without tying corporate credit limits.
1 Trade Cycle Pressure Points
Maize and soybean importers draw on lines heavily during harvest peaks, then sit idle in off-season. Traditional revolvers charge commitment on unused balances. A draw-per-cargo bridge facility shifts cost to actual usage.
2 Warehouse Receipt Standards
- Collateral managers: SGS, Bureau Veritas, Control Union.
- Receipt fields: quantity, grade, warehouse address, lien statement to lender.
- Dual keys: borrower cannot move stock without lender release.
3 Borrowing-Base Formula
Eligible Value = Qty × Spot Price × Haircut (10-15 %).
Advance = 90 % × Eligible Value.
4 Pricing & Fees
- Margin: SOFR + 300-375 bps.
- Up-front: 1 % line size.
- Warehouse/collateral fee: passed through at cost.
5 Risk Controls
- Quality cert folded into each draw.
- Fumigation schedule logged in collateral manager portal.
- Commodity price hedge (futures short) when advance > 85 %.
6 Timeline & Diligence
- Week 1 Mandate + data room.
- Week 2 Term sheet.
- Week 3-4 Warehouse inspections, legal opinions.
- Week 5 Signing.
- Week 6 First draw.
7 Example—45 000 t Soybean Shipment
- CIF value: USD 21 m
- Advance rate: 90 % → USD 18.9 m
- Tenor: 92 days
- Cost: SOFR + 325 bps → ≈ USD 463 k
8 Financely Service Scope
We coordinate collateral-manager appointment, issue lender RFPs, and close facilities 30-45 days from mandate. Network: 180 trade-finance lenders with USD 30 billion liquidity.
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