Insights

Notes from the trade desk

Regulation, market structure and the practical detail of moving commodities, written for the people who actually have to ship them.

Comparison table of five Incoterms 2020 rules above a four-stage shipment track running from handover to the carrier, to loading on board at the port of shipment, across the sea leg, to the destination. For each rule the table gives the transport mode, where risk passes to the buyer, whether the seller pays main carriage, and the minimum insurance the seller must buy. Risk passes on handover to the carrier under FCA and CIP, and when the goods are on board under FOB, CFR and CIF. The seller pays main carriage under CFR, CIF and CIP only. No insurance is required under FCA, FOB or CFR, CIF requires Institute Cargo Clauses C, and CIP requires Institute Cargo Clauses A.
Logistics & shipping

FOB, CFR or CIF: where risk actually transfers on a commodity shipment

The Incoterms 2020 rules fix where delivery happens and where risk passes. What FOB, CFR, CIF and FCA mean for a commodity cargo, and what they leave out.

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Two-panel diagram. The left panel is a timeline of sea transport rules: IMDG Code mandatory under SOLAS on 1 January 2004, verified gross mass required from 1 July 2016, IMDG Amendment 42-24 voluntary from 1 January 2025 and mandatory from 1 January 2026. The right panel lists four documents and who is responsible for each: classification and safety data sheet by the supplier, dangerous goods declaration by the shipper, container packing certificate by the packer, and verified gross mass by the shipper.
Regulation & compliance

The paperwork that decides whether your chemical container sails

Classification, the dangerous goods declaration, the packing certificate and the verified gross mass decide whether an industrial chemical container loads.

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Timeline of EU Deforestation Regulation milestones: country risk list adopted 22 May 2025, Parliament rejects benchmarking 9 July 2025, regulation applies to large and medium operators 30 December 2026, and to micro and small operators 30 June 2027.
Regulation & compliance

The EUDR clock is running: what Malaysian rubber and palm exporters must have ready by 30 December 2026

What the EU Deforestation Regulation demands of Malaysian rubber and palm supply chains before it applies to large operators on 30 December 2026.

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