How the ongoing trade wars and protectionist measures impact the trade finance industry?

The industry has been quite resilient so far and we believe that this resilience will continue. Any trade frictions in one part of the world provide the opportunity in another and our clients are well capable to capitalise on this. From our side, we haven’t seen any deterioration in either volumes or prices which affected our business.

 

A growing volume of Russian grain reaches South East Asian countries/Indian Ocean ports. How is SB developing its international presence in the region?

While our clients tend to have stronger links to producers rather than to consumers, we don’t stay shy of new geographies. At the moment sales SE Asian markets represent a small part of the portfolio of transactions we finance, but we agree that the potential is there.

 

What are the most important challenges affecting the grain trade financing sector currently?

We have a reasonably optimistic outlook on the industry. The population growth in Emerging Markets and demand for food will continue thus facilitating the global trade. We are watching very carefully any technological developments in the industry such as blockchain. Many banks, including ourselves, have done pilot trades, but the technology itself hasn’t taken off on the global scale yet. Once it does, it could be a game-changer.

 

How SB positions itself in the grain trading industry?

Our forte is understanding of Russian / CIS risks and assisting our clients in developing their business in the region. We already have a very strong position in the Black Sea basin and our aim to expand further to cover other regions. But our business doesn’t stop with Russia. We tend to follow our clients and help them wherever we can. Our current geography includes Europe, Africa, Middle East, SE Asia and Latin America, so we consider ourselves as a truly global player in the soft commodities.