Until now, companies that trade concentrates have had few options for trading and risk management platforms. Many still use platforms that were designed for much more straightforward commodity trading. Traders can see their positions, they can see their P&L, and they can do their invoicing. But the process is time-consuming and prone to error.

Commonly, Excel spreadsheets supplement the commodity trading risk management (CTRM) platform with the additional data needed for concentrates trading. And this leads to a situation where individual employees are creating and maintaining these spreadsheets, leaving the company in a highly vulnerable position when its concentrates trading knowledge resides with only one or two people.

It is abundantly clear that this situation can’t go on. But concerns about the overhead of selecting and investing in a replacement system – and getting teams up-to-speed on it – can get in the way of taking the steps needed to get concentrates trading on to a stable and resilient footing. There is a way forward – read on for a roadmap to more efficient concentrates trading.