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Providing the upper edge to commodity traders
CStar provides a one stop comprehensive Trading, Supply Chain and Risk Management solution addressing the full breadth and depth of commodity requirements. CStar provides a single integrated platform for consolidating and managing all commodity physical, commodity derivatives, forex and freight positions. CStar provides extensive features and functionality to seamlessly manage all modes of transport including road, rail, vessel, container and multi-mode logistics requirements. CStar provides visibility into forward balances by consolidating inventory, production and trade information. CStar gives instantaneous and accurate view of all cashflows and credit lines to finance and treasury users. CStar has extensive risk management tools to manage market, credit, counterparty and operational risks, including accurate daily P&L attribution, giving the unfair edge to users.
CStar solution is built on a web-based technology foundation which can be hosted on cloud or in premise. CStar offers all the tools required to flex and extend the solution to ensure success of implementation and also self sufficiency in maintaining the system . CStar also ensure ease of implementation and usage through tools like workflow, connectivity and document manager. Collaboration tool is designed for communication between users working remotely. CStar continues to leverage on Machine Learning and Blockchain technologies to deliver more value to traders.
Why CommoditySTAR
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Comprehensive trade lifecycle, supply chain and risk management solution
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Automation of operational document generation
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Pro-active risk management through limits, alerts and daily P&L reporting
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Advanced analytics using machine learning technologies
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Solution encapsulates industry best business practices
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Truly web based solution which can be accessed from anywhere on the go and through any devices
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Designed for quick implementations and self maintenance through features like user friendly document designer, drag and drop analytics, user defined fields, user defined profiles and user defined filters, for personalized user experience
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Scalable solution using grid computing technologies
Physical
Physical Trade module captures and manages the lifecycle of trades that involves physical movement/delivery.
Multiple grades, deliveries and price components can be captured in a single trade. CStar supports multiple pricing methods to address the needs of all commodities, including flat, futures basis (EFP), index/formula or trigger/staggered. The price and settlement currencies can be different. A trade can have multiple independent price components, with different pricing methods, currencies and FX fixation rules. Additional details like demurrage terms, budgeted costs, price optionality, quality and credit line can also be defined. Tasks can be defined for a trade, responsibilities can be assigned to relevant users for tasks, and tasks can be tracked using the task manager. CStar supports inter-company and intra-company trades between profit centres.
Trades capture is simplified through user-defined templates. The trade details are defaulted based on selected template and the defaults can be modified as per specific trade requirements. CStar has the option of a simplified trade capture for users on mobile devices.
Trade document templates can also be configured by users with a user friendly WYSWYG document templating tool.
Derivatives
Derivatives module captures and manages Over-The-Counter (OTC) and Exchange traded commodity Futures, Options and Swaps. Broker statements can be uploaded using pre-defined templates. Trades can also be captured via connectors to Exchange. Margins can be defined and managed. The derivatives can be closed out or converted to other instruments.
The derivatives can be matched with physical trades for price fixation or hedging.
Forex
Forex module captures and manages Over-The-Counter (OTC) and Exchange traded forex futures and forwards. Both deliverable and non-deliverable Forex forwards can be managed. These forex positions can be matched with commodity trades to cover the forex exposures. The forex trades can be matched and closed out or can be matched with payment and collections.
Freight
Freight module captures and manages Time Charters (TC) and Voyage Charters (VC). Various price components like Freight, Despatch, Demurrage, Dead Freight, Overrage, Hire Rate, Address Commission and others can be configured. Bunker On Delivery and Redelivery can be captured and settled. Bunker Oil consumption can also be maintained in the TC. Statement of Facts can be captured to compute and settle despatch and demurrages.
Fulfilment
CStar helps users manage planning, scheduling and actualization of commodities moved by vessel, barge, road, rail, pipeline or combination of modes of transport.
Physical buys and sells can be fully or partially allocated to plans to create obligations. Each obligation can have single or multiple schedules/movements. Each schedule can have single or multiple loads. Buy and Sell loads can be matched with each other or matched to inventory. Loads can have single or multiple unloads. Actual quantity, quality and dates can be captured for each load or unload. Purchase-In-Transit and Sales-In-Transit quantities are also tracked and reported.
All operational documentation like notice of readiness, shipping instruction, bill of lading, letter of credit, and others can be easily configured and generated by the system. CStar also keeps track of key movement event dates and workflows can be associated with the events.
Settlement
CStar Settlement module provides accounting users with the tools required to accurately settle, and invoice physical, derivatives and forex transactions.
Cashflows are generated on confirmation of trades. System tracks the status of quantity, price, quality of each cashflow. Cashflows are driven by the payment term and payment events. CStar provides for settlement of secondary costs/fees. The cashflows can be converted into invoices after finalization. CStar flexible invoicing also supports netting provisions as specified in contracts across commodities, buy/sells with a single counter party and offers consolidated invoicing for multiple subsidiaries of a counter party.
Account positing rules can be defined for settlement. Accruals can also be generated for expected sales and purchases including cost of supply, services, storage, and other third-party fees.
String module facilitates matching of paper trades and also add external trades to the string. The string can be settled based on minimum, maximum, market, buyer or seller price.
Allocation and Hedging
Long and Short Physical Trades can be matched by traders for booking P&L in allocation module. Long Raw Materials can be converted into equivalent Finished Goods positions based on process yields. Similarly, Short Finished Goods positions can also be converted into equivalent Raw Material positions. By product positions are automatically generated based on yields.
Before allocation, physical positions can be matched with futures, options or swaps for hedging.
Inventory
CStar Inventory automates the Inventory activities for a multi-company, multi-location environment. Different storage types like warehouses, storage tanks can be defined and storage rules can be configured to address specific requirements. The user has the freedom to regulate storage of products through warehouse allocation and control various activities like Issues, Receipts, Returns, Adjustments, Inter warehouse movements etc. Provision to take a host of reports on a daily or periodic basis is also available. Physical Inventory and Cycle Counting ensures accuracy of inventory data. Various UOMs can be defined in the system. UOM conversion rules based on product or temperature can also be defined.
Process recipe can be pre-defined and used to default yields in production plans and actuals. Periodic Production/Process plans can be defined. System provides a wholistic forward long/short position view based on inventory, production plan and committed buys and sells. Production actuals can be captured against the plan and used to drive the inventory valuation.
Analytics
CStar Analytics provides real time information at the fingertips of the users. The real time analytics is very similar to excel pivot reports which traders are conversant with. Dimensions and measures can be easily configured as per user requirements.
CStar leverages Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence technologies to provide pro-active analytics to traders.
CStar also offers pre-defined analytics through market leading PowerBI analytics tool.
Document Management
Trade lifecycle involves creation and exchange of documentation including trade confirmation, shipping instructions, notice of readiness, bill of lading, quality inspection, invoice and so on. CStar automates configuration and generation of all trade and operations related documents. Multiple formats of these documents can be configured to meet the specific requirements of countries, counterparties and products. These documents also gets automatically linked to the contracts, thereby replacing the need for storing physical documents. External documents can also be scanned, stored and linked to specific trades for reference, providing a one stop repository of all documents related to trades.
Connectivity
E/CTRM solution has to co-exists with other applications or systems to leverage investments made in existing applications. CStar offers a modular solution which can very well complement existing applications and also integrate to the existing applications through the Connectivity tool.
CStar Connector can be used for interfacing with existing legacy or ERP applications, to integrate to market data sources like Bloomberg and Reuters and also for straight through processing by interfacing with exchanges.
Flexibility
Every user is unique and have their own specific requirements. CStar application can be personalized by users or administrators for each individual users or group of users. Using the Profile functionality, application fields can be renamed, fields can be hidden or shown, sort order, column order, group order can be specified. Column lengths and alignments can also be configured.
Filters can also be personalized using the filter definition functionality.
Extendibility
Trading is a very dynamic industry and user requirements keep changing with time and growth. Systems should enable continuous change and improve. CStar User Defined Fields (UDF) functionality makes it possible to add or complement existing fields and logic.
Collaboration
When working from home or remotely is becoming a norm, it is very important to be able to seamlessly collaborate and communicate with other participants. CStar solution comes with built in collaboration/messaging tool to collaborate with internal and external users. Multiple topics/channels can be created for each transaction and all messages in a topic/channel are linked and saved against each transaction.
Workflow and Task Manager
Conditional and unconditional workflows can be defined in the system. Workflow can be linked to transaction events. Workflow rules can be defined. Internal or external contacts can be notified using workflow configuration.
Security and Audit Trail
Admin or functional users can be defined in the system. Roles can be configured and associated to users and permission rights.
Data level access controls can also be defined using the concept of Contract/Trade Book. Contract Book can be mapped to users, legal entities, counterparties, commodities, profit centre, strategy and portfolio.
Ags
Agricultural commodity industry has witnessed significant growth over the past few years on account of a growing population as well as the rising demand for alternative energy sources. The industry has been impacted by declining productivity and loss of arable land at the same time has seen increased demand because of increasing population, higher consumption and demand for bio-fuels. The growing importance of edible oils has rendered the market more volatile and correlated to other commodities. As global commodity markets, supply chains and transportation become more complex, quality and traceability is increasingly playing a very important part. This has made it more imperative for industry participants to manage supply/demand, operations , credit lines, cashflows, exposures and risks.
CStar provides Farmers, Plantations, Processors, Traders and Marketers of an integrated solution with the ability to measure and report risks and manage deals (Commodity physical and derivatives, forex, freight) from capture to confirmation to fulfilment to settlement. CStar enables quick and easy trade capture with prebuilt templates like GAFTA, NAEGA, FOSFA, PORAM, ECC and other industry standard contracts. CStar also addresses industry specific requirements like circles, bypass, strings and washouts. Commodity specific requirements like OER/KER for hard oils, ratios for cocoa, polarization and white premium for sugar, DRC for rubber, futures basis pricing for wheat, soybean and corn, are all comprehensively addressed in the solution.
CStar also seamlessly integrates with weigh bridge systems, market data providers, and ERP systems to fully leverage existing systems.
Energy
Energy sector has witnessed significant shifts in recent times with the advent of renewable energy, the shale oil boom and geopolitical factors. LNG has witnessed widespread adoption as clean source of energy. Coal continues to be one of the most affordable fuel for power generation. Energy traders grapple variety of challenges associated with managing supply, demand, inventory, logistics, contracts, regulatory compliance , price volatility and risk management.
CStar provides Energy Producers, Processors,, Traders and Marketers an integrated and comprehensive solution with the ability to measure and report risks and manage trades (Commodity physical and derivatives, forex, freight) from capture to confirmation to fulfilment to settlement. CStar supports complex index or formula based pricing. JKM, Dutch TTF, UK NBP or Zee Index based pricing can be configured for LNG pricing. Slope and intercept levels for proxies can also be specified in the solution. Netback pricing based on hire rates, boil off rates, bunker consumption, other charges can also be setup in CStar. Coal specific requirements Calorific Value adjustment can be managed in CStar solution.
Metals
Metals supply chain has become more complex due to the constant change in the demand and supply patterns of global economy. Top metal producers strive to gain a competitive advantage by creating a supply chain that can quickly respond to the market demand variation while minimizing costs. Some of the key requirements of the industry includes improving the accuracy of price and volume forecasts, determining the best product mix ,making reliable customer delivery promises, improving quality and product yields through better scheduling decisions and improving transportation efficiency. Metals markets are moving away from fixed price, long-term contracts and towards short-term spot- or index-based contracts.
CStar provides an integrated solution to manage physical and financial trade life cycle and to measure and report risks for ferrous, non-ferrous and concentrate metals trading.
Risk
CStar provides comprehensive risk management tools through extensive valuation, flexible and comprehensive limits definition, powerful analytics and workflow functionalities.
CStar provides a flexible and powerful limits definition engine. Limits can be defined for volume, value, cashflow, P&L, tenors, credit, outstanding or price. Sub limits can be defined for priced, unpriced, gross or net values. Multiple warning or block tolerance levels can be setup and alerts can also be configured for tolerance breaches.
Market prices can be imported through connectors to market data providers or excel import or manual data entry. CStar supports period and tenor based market prices. Derived price indices can also be setup.
A position can be marked to multiple market prices for variety of simulations and reporting. Daily P&L Attributions are also calculated and stored in the system.