In today’s global market place, buyers purchase a wide array of commodities from different parts of the world. The global buyers, however, face various challenges while buying commodities across geographical boundaries. Traditionally, they go through a long and cumbersome process of procuring such commodities that includes but not limited to; quality assurance of the commodities as per international standards, issuance of Letter of Credits for sellers, procurement challenges such as ground logistics, sea cargo, procurement of insurances and overcoming local custom hurdles prior to getting the commodities delivered at their desired ports.

In Pakistan, farmers and commodity stockists produce and export a rich variety of agricultural and non-agricultural commodities globally. It is often very challenging for them to find the international buyers or satisfy their demands due to various by-laws and operational challenges in their respective countries. As a result, they tend to lose their market share against competing countries.

Keeping in view the challenges faced by local sellers and global buyers, PMEX has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary under the name Global Commodity Trading Platform (Pvt.) Limited (GCTP).

GCTP will offer an ecommerce platform for trading commodities. This digital platform will facilitate the Pakistani commodity sellers to sell their commodities to global buyers electronically and offer an end-to-end trade process through a one-window solution. It will take care of buyers/sellers trading agreements, quality certifications, customs inspection and clearance, marine insurances, worldwide delivery along with providing a fully integrated payment solution for the convenience of its customers.

GCTP has partnered with HashMove to provide an advanced logistics platform. This platform brings shipping lines, freight forwarders, customs agents, insurance companies, quality inspection companies and bonded warehouses to complete the entire ecosystem of the logistics.

For the first time in Pakistan, GCTP will offer an opportunity to the sellers to sell their commodities globally and get prompt payment without being registered as exporters. Also, the sellers will not have to prepare export related documents, which will be handled by GCTP on their behalf. Moreover, by listing commodities at GCTP, the sellers will be able to showcase their products in new markets and attract buyers from all over the world.

The global buyers will have the advantage to reach a wide variety of verified commodity sellers at GCTP. They will not only have the opportunity to purchase commodities with quality certification as per the international standards, but also at competitive prices and get the delivery of purchased goods at the port of their choice with the click of a few buttons. The GCTP will provide the buyers with the security of their money until the trade is successfully executed and the goods are dispatched from Pakistani port to their respective destination.

At GCTP, a universe of commodities, including both agriculture and nonagriculture, will be available for trading. These commodities will be introduced phase-wise. In the first phase, rice, guar gum, pink salt, dates, mango, peach and guava pulp, marble, gypsum, iron ore, barite and magnesite are being targeted for trading.

GCTP will go live in the first quarter of 2022. PMEX is confident that GCTP will act as a catalyst in enhancing the exports of Pakistan. It will develop a new community of commodity sellers, within Pakistan, to embrace a digital model for selling commodities to overseas buyers. It will also enable this community to go online, interact with its e-commerce platform, harness the power of online sales and reach new buyers located anywhere in the world.