About
Built on relationships.
We know the producers and clients we trade with, we understand what each of them needs, and we find the answer that creates value for both. That is the whole business.
The house
One name, trading since 2012.
SMPE Limited is a physical commodity trading house in Dubai. We have traded as principal since 2012: we take title to the cargo, we finance it, and we carry the risk until it is delivered.
Five desks trade under one name. The people who run each desk know their market; all of them trade to the same terms, the same screening and the same standard of delivery.
Trading as principal is the harder way to do this business, and the one in which a promise of delivery means something. The contract sets the role on each deal; what never changes is that we answer for what we sign.
The founder
If we cannot create value, we have no place in the trade.
A trading house earns its place between producer and client only by making the trade better for both of them. That was the conviction of our founder, the late Mr T. Hairan, and it is still how the house works.
The method follows from it. We listen before we quote. We find out what the producer needs and what the client needs, and we look for the answer that serves both. More often than not it lies in the logistics or the financing: a route across several legs and borders, a payment structure that lets the deal happen. That is where the house is strongest. When we find the answer, we put our name to it. When there is none, we say so and step aside.
To be clear
Three things you can count on.
Our name on the contract.
We stand behind what we sign, and we carry the risk that comes with it until delivery.
A person who can commit.
You deal with someone on a desk who knows the market and has the authority to agree.
Physical cargo, delivered.
We trade the physical. We hedge; we do not speculate on paper.
How we think
Four rules we do not break.
Understand the need
Listen before quoting. Most of the value in a trade is found in what the other side could not get elsewhere.
Value for both sides
A trade that is good for only one party is not one we want. If we cannot add value, we step aside.
Keep the word
Markets move. Our contract does not.
Know the counterparty
KYC, sanctions screening and credit assessment before the first email, not after the first problem.
Have a cargo or a requirement?
Tell us the commodity, the quantity and the delivery window. A desk replies within one business day.