AspectCTRM For Metals & Steel Markets

Product Summary

AspectCTRM supports several types of businesses in metals and steel markets. See our complete solution set which includes Modules for Trade Management, Cash Flow Analysis, Scenario Modeling and Financial Operations. AspectCTRM for Metals & Steel Markets is ready out-of-the-box with front, middle and back office functionality. It takes only days to configure your portal and start managing trade activity.

For Any Size Company

• Producers
• Fabricators
• Trading Companies
• Banks & Brokers
• Investment Companies

The Challenge

Metal and steel industries are now truly global with complex and diverse supply chain processes. Business activities each with a unique set of challenges vary depending upon where in the supply chain your business resides, from raw material producers, smelters and refiners, merchants and traders through consumers like automotive and construction.

Managing costs, including secondary costs, and cash flows in the purchase and sale of physical metal is vital for bottom line success. Many companies rely on spreadsheets and disparate legacy systems, which cause blind spots and inefficiencies in capturing and processing transactions through to settlement.

With the emergence of new factors influencing market prices, it is wise to incorporate market data sources into decision support analytics; many exchanges are now publishing prices and indices for metals and steel. The value of marked to market positions can vary with geography and time. Accurate and timely confirmation and invoicing processes are vital for efficient operations and ensuring cash flows are maintained.

Hedging and risk strategies are emerging due to changing steel market dynamics which include deals moving from fixed price, long-term contracts to short-term contracts based on spot or index-based and average prices.

Solution Overview: AspectCTRM For Metals & Steel Markets

AspectCTRM For Metals & Steel Markets offers the ability to model your business including purchases and sales, forecast P&L and cash flows, run “What-If Scenario Analysis” in real time, and see the effects of changes in market prices, alternative sources and associated secondary costs.

Aspect also offers an integrated market data and analytics portal on the same platform, making it the most comprehensive trade and risk management solution available. AspectDSC distributes price assessments, analysis and breaking news for trading steel products, base and precious metals from a variety of sources including Platts, London Metal Exchange and Dow Jones.

Solution Benefits

• Model exposure by various factors including material, supplier, country, currency and customer to manage credit risk and cash flow scenarios.
• Produce fast action intraday & closing reports: No other system produces reports in seconds.
• Monitor the value of marked-to-market and cash positions simultaneously with market fluctuations, and as deals are entered and updated. This empowering capability is surprisingly still out of reach for many companies using older technology or spreadsheets.
• Display professional trade management tools, audit trails and documentation to secure lines of credit.
• Produce accurate, partial or final invoices, reconcile actual payments received against forecast, as well as positions against broker statements.

System of Record for OTC LME Look-alike Trades

Another benefit of AspectCTRM for Metals and Steel is in its ability to manage OTC trades. Many London Metal Exchange (LME) brokers manage over-the-counter (OTC) trades in spreadsheets and disparate homegrown systems. Trades submitted to the LME must be in a clearable currency, of a good date, in an Exchange traded commodity, and have a valid price. From time to time LME Brokers can handle trades which may not conform to such criteria. Such OTC trades can be managed by AspectCTRM until such time as they are either traded out, rolled off or can be transferred to your main ETD processing system. Many traditional systems were built for larger volume, standard contracts and are not sufficiently flexible to handle non-LME standard trades. This OTC derivatives market is supported by AspectCTRM, giving you the tools you need to manage trades in a professional system of record. AspectCTRM is built in modern technology with easy integration tools to seamlessly incorporate your OTC trading activities into corporate MIS reporting and other systems as required.

Hedge Funds

As the turmoil in global financial markets continues, alternative investment funds are looking to the commodity markets for a source of volatile yet stable investment opportunities. The metals sector is an attractive market, in particular the precious metals which offer the feeling of a safe haven for their investors, with base and minor metals providing more opportunities. Volatility remains high in these markets but with a steady growth trend overall. As with all alternative investment strategies, it is vital to have a clear picture of the firm’s position and exposure. AspectCTRM provides the needed decision making tools to invest in these markets.

Hedging Is A Critical Component

Hedging is a critical component in metals and steel markets for merchant traders and producers offsetting the risk of price movements, locking in higher margins, protecting the value of inventory against falling prices, and gaining financing from banks as hedgers are seen as lower risk. Consumers and converters gain control of raw material costs and producers are able to better manage product prices for higher margins. AspectCTRM gives you the tools you need to create a well devised hedging program and continuously manage changing positions through robust real-time profit and loss, exposure and risk analysis functions and reports.

Get Visibility On Upstream Prices, Processing & Secondary Costs And Understand The Impact On Downstream Prices And Availability.

The price and availability of raw materials such as iron ore, coking coal, ferro-alloys, and scrap materials impact downstream products pricing and profitability. AspectCTRM gives you visibility of your positions and exposure in the market so you can make the best buy/sell decisions for semi-finished and finished steel, and refined base metals products.