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How BLK Assesses Quality

BLK evaluates all users on the basis of our proprietary Quality – Cost – Service Delivery criteria.

But what does quality mean for us and how do you as a supplier or buyer can ensure to be recognised among the top quality players?

In this post we will look at how BLK assesses quality.

Quality is a mix of many factors, which we assess individually and score on a scale from 1 to 100. Each factor carries a different weight, all of them contributing towards your overall Quality Score.

Quality Certifications
Class Approvals
Legal Status
Supply Chain Security
Financials
No. of employees
Country of HQ
Turnover
Years in Business
Track Record of Customers
Returns Policy
Transparency
Carbon Footprint

Each and every variable is assigned a different weight.

1.1 Quality Certifications

We check that the company operates a Health and Safety Management System to a recognised standard. Moreover, we ensure it holds a number of certifications validated by various independent certification bodies.

We also look at whether the company has an adequate Environmental Policy in place, alongside formal risk assessment procedures and dedicated HSE personnel to implement them.

Finally, we check the company Employer’s Liability insurance, as well as policies and provisions for the training of personnel.

1.2 Class Approvals

We check that the company has been independently audited and holds certifications with classification societies such as Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Lloyd’s, UKAS, and whether the class approvals cover the scope of supply of the company.

Furthermore, we look at whether the company manufactured products are independently analysed by renowned players like Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS ) so as to ensure quality and compliance with all applicable standards.

1.3 Legal Status

This is a very important check that we run. We assess the company background and ensure that neither the company, nor any of its directors have had any conviction under environmental, health and safety legislation during the past three calendar years.

Additionally, we want to make sure that none of the directors of the company has ever been convicted for a breach of the Bribery Act 2010 or similar legislation.

1.4 Supply Chain Security

Supply chain security is critical. Merger and acquisitions, change in key personnel, joint ventures and similar events may expose a company’s supply chain to external attacks like cyber and/or noncompliant suppliers.

BLK Assesses businesses’ supply chains to determine whether this is sufficiently secure to meet international standards.

In particular, we look at historical and prospective acquisitions, change in key personnel and onboarding of suppliers with a history of bribery, criminal convictions and/or cyber attacks.

We also evaluate the key personnel’s retention rate, ensuring that a business has competent, stable and secure people on the job.

This way we can be sure to offset the risk of external stakeholders, procedures and processes exposing the company’s supply chain to external attacks.

1.5 Financials

We analyse company financials to ensure these are solid enough to guarantee the continued operation of the business for the foreseeable future.

Among other things, we look at the company’s debt ratio to assess the long term stability of the business.

Furthermore, we look at the transparency of the company in its willingness to disclose its entire financial history, financial projections and order book for the years ahead.

In assessing the financials, we also ensure that these are independently audited.

1.6 Number of Employees

Although not always an indicator of quality (most of the big corporates are notoriously inefficient) a large number of employees underpins a general stability within a company. We take this into account with a weight factor. There are buyers who may wish to only do business with companies which they perceive as stable or “safe”.

Alongside their balance sheet, the overall staff number is a good indicator of a business’ medium-term stability.

1.7 Country of HQ

Our assessment looks, among other things, at the company’s country of HQ. This impacts the overall score based on the country’s rating from the major credit rating agencies.

We also look at the company’s approach to health, safety, quality and management compared to that of similar companies in the country.

1.8 Turnover

For some (generally corporate) buyers, public entities or ISO 9001 certified businesses it may be required to only consider as suppliers companies above a certain turnover thresholds. This is especially the case in public sector procurement and it’s not uncommon for public tenders in the UK to require a minimum of £500,000 annual turnover in order to qualify for the bid.

BLK assesses the turnover independently and gives visibility of it to our buyers, so that they can select the most appropriate suppliers on the basis of their internal policies.

1.9 Years in Business & Key Personnel Retention

Although not a key indicator, a long track record supports the perception of long-term stability of a company. This evaluated and feeds into our overall quality assessment with a weighted score, so as not to penalise excessively start-ups and younger businesses, whilst allowing buyers to get full transparency on suppliers they intend to do business with.

Company evaluations we run focus, among other things, to the company history, not just in terms of number of years in business, but also in terms of long term growth of their bottom line as well as headcount and key personnel retention rate.

This way, we can ensure stability going forward and competence of the team in critical positions and departments which will affect our customers, such as production and customer service.

1.10 Track Record of Customers

Another thing we evaluate is the company’s existing customer pool, its size, distribution and quality.

We look at whether a company works with blue chip brands or publicly-listed entities, which is a strong indicator of the quality of their products/services as well as service delivery.

1.11 Returns Policy

Return policy says a lot about the quality of a business. Especially within the commodity space, if a company has a return policy in place it means they’re confident about the quality of what they sell, and it’s a huge bonus in the overall assessment.

In assessing businesses, we look at whether a company offers 100% money-back guarantee if goods are not as described or according to specification.

Also, we look at whether the company has a dedicated, permanent customer service team, which impacts positively on the company’s overall quality and service delivery.

1.12 Transparency

Transparency is paramount. It is the very reason why we assess businesses the way we do.

Transparency is the foundation of our business and that of our partners. We therefore request a large amount of documentation from the businesses we vet and we look at whether businesses adopted a transparent approach from the onset, disclosing financials, performance indicators and remaining open to an on-site visit from one of our representatives.

If they don’t… maybe they have something to hide. That brings their rating down.

1.13 Carbon footprint

As we go forward, more and more focus is placed on the environmental impact of companies and people we do business with.

This has a specific place in BLK’s vetting process and we look at companies’ carbon footprint overall and specifically for the products they are selling.

We do this by gathering data on their emissions, electricity consumption, fuel consumption, business travel, lighting and heating.

All these information are conveyed into our proprietary model for an Extended Exergy Accounting evaluation.

Exergy is and extensive property of a system and it is a measure of the system’s overall impact within the environment. Differently from Energy, exergy does not conserve itself.

Thermodynamic processes, including human activities and manufacturing, destroy a portion of the exergy. Exergy destroyed is the part of energy that can no longer be recuperated and used for any other process. It is an unservable by-product of a process.

We treat a business like a black box. We assess all the exergy getting into the business in terms of specific energy of capital, labour, environmental impact, etc. We then look at he output product and their specific exergy content.

This allows us to determine whether these products are adequately priced not only in relation to the market but also in terms of environmental cost required to produce them.

All this goes into our Extended Exergy Analysis and with this method we are able to evaluate a company’s true footprint on the environment.

Do you want to find out the overall quality rating of your business?

Do you want to understand how you stack-up against your competitors in the market and take the necessary steps to improve your positioning?

Find out more about the BLK Rate and contact us for a tailor-made discussion.

BLK Shipping Weekly – Shipping Rates Updates

25 June 2021

Welcome to BLK Shipping Weekly, our regular shipping rates updates. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

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Wet Cargo

Charter rates down, on all fronts, although we seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel, with owners’ resistance to further drops, leading to a no deal on a growing number of fixtures.

VLCC – It was another bad week for VLCCs, with most routes commanding negative charter rates. Very good news for shippers, especially those looking at cross-Atlantic routes. List of uncharted vessels remain high, with supply overpowering demand. Owners are now starting to turn down cargoes, in a bid to drive charter rates back up. Avg. VLCCs rate at $601, underpinning the large tonnage oversupply. If you can, ship now. Outlook: Negative

Suezmax – rates still suffering from the oversupply of tonnage in the market but made a slight recovery WoW. Rates now surpassing those of VLCCs, just below the $2500 per day mark. Outlook: Stable

Aframax – afra rates saw drops between 4 and 11%, with the exception of Mediterranean Routes, which saw a whopping +144% growth WoW. Avg. charter rates stable at $4900/day. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Products – the slow decline in rates continued, primarily driven by the low availability of tonnage in the Mediterraneand and Baltic. Charter rates fall slowed down compared to the previous week, shrinking only between 3% and 28% Outlook: Stable.

Clean Products – Charter rates weakened between 2 to 40% owing to the fact that most world refineries are still operating under capacity due to the low demand for refined fuels. With airlines still down and road traffic at a fraction of the pre-pandemic levels the market remains far from its best shape. Plenty of carrying capacity available on the main routes contributes to weakening the outlook. Outlook: Stable

MR – uptake in demand drove rates up, with a positive outlook for the weeks ahead. Outlook: Positive

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers remains low. Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Stable

LR2 – In general, the market remains down between 12% and 22%. Outlook: Negative

Handy – Slow pick-up is possible subject to the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. LR and MR tanker rates, however, are now below those of Handy tankers, meaning that charterers will likely shift to larger vessel sizes, wherever possible. Therefore, we should expect a further drop in Handy rates. Outlook: Negative

Dirty Panamax – Rates softened everywhere, among fears of a new COVID wave due to the delta variant. Outlook: Stable

Dry Cargo

General pick-up on all routes and across all segments, underpinning a strong market sentiment, driven by the increasing demand for raw materials.

Capesize – Uptake in charter rates picked up, with nearly $5000 growth WoW, which pushed the Cape rates beyond $30k/day for the first time in years. Outlook: Positive

Panamax – stable demand which impacted positively the charter rates, with a 7% weekly growth. Hold availability shortage played a major role, with charter rates now nearing $30500/day Outlook: Stable

Supramax – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021 and stabilised in May to pick-up again more aggressively in June, with a 20% average growth WoW. Outlook: Positive

Handysize – rates remained stable without much movement from the previous weeks. Fixed around the $24k/day mark. Outlook: Stable

Container

Container rates continue with their strong rally, with ultra-large container carriers breaking through $100k/day for the first time in history.

As container liners keep stashing cash on the back of the strongest year on record, we are seeing the newbuilding order book starting to fill-up for the year ahead. This week Hapag Lloyd announced the order for 12 Ultra-large 23,500 TEU vessels. We expect other liners to soon follow-suit, booking yards for LNG-fuelled vessels.

Positive news for shippers, with new carrying capacity entering the market, which should contribute to the softening of the rates. The entrance in service of these vessels is, however, still many months away and demand for container still looks strong.

Rising inflation in post-lockdown economy may contribute to ease the demand for finished goods but it remains to be seen whether this will be permanent or, as the Bank of England predicts, only temporary. In the latter case, we’re in for a long winter of very expensive shipping from Asia with final consumers paying the ultimate price.

On the raw materials side, however, and especially in chemical commodities, the high freight rates (now looking upwards of $12,500 per TEU on the route China – Europe) now impact prices of goods to the extent that it is equivalent or cheaper to source from European suppliers.

We expect to see a continual decrease in smaller-batches shipments westbound from Asia to Europe, hopefully accompanied by a subsequent easing of the TEU rates towards the end of the year.

Air cargo is now cheaper than ocean freight for smaller parcels, are we on the tipping point for this huge container rally?

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Shipping rates updates for Gas Carriers are not significant. Stable WoW, with a slight 9% recover for large carriers rates. Pressurized and semi-pressurized vessel rates remained unchanged.

As plenty of tonnage is currently tied-up in dock for ballast water treatment systems installation, we are to expect a further softening of the rates next month, as the ships come back into the market.
Outlook: Stable

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our weekly shipping updates.

Shipping rates updates

Every Friday on BLK.

Shea Butter Market 2021

The global Shea Butter market size is worth over $1.1B and expected to grow at a rate of 6.6% per annum by 2026.

What is Shea Butter

Shea butter is obtained from the nuts of the Shea tree and used for many different applications due to its highly desirable content of vitamins, protein, magnesium, potassium and other micro elements. Shea butter is also rich in fatty acids such as oleic acids, sterols and phenols, which have strong moisturising and conditioning properties.

One of the main shea butter applications is in cosmetics manufacturing, with food coming in as a close second, where shea butter is used as a substitute for cocoa butter.

Regional Segmentation

Europe is one of the biggest markets for Shea butter, with the UK being one of the main consumers. Together, they account for over 37% of the global demand.

North America and Africa hold significant shares as well, with the smallest market for this commodity being Central & South America

Shea Butter Market Regional Segmentation — Shea Butter Regional Segmentation

Quality Segmentation

Unrefined Shea Butter – Grade A: this is shea butter in its most natural and unrefined form. Extracted and prepared without the use of any chemicals or preservatives, as per the traditional African methods. Unrefined shea butter retains all of the vitamins, protein and micro elements which confer it its desirable properties.

Refined Shea Butter – Grade B: Grad B shea butter is still essentially at the raw state. However, preservatives have added to the finished product in order to make it more durable and extend its shelf life. Still very good content of vitamins and micro elements.

Highly Refined Shea Butter – Grade C, D & E: highly refined and extracted using solvents such as hexane, antioxidants and preservatives. Due to the chemicals used in the process, some vitamins such as A and E may be lost.

Price Trends

As demand for shea butter keeps increasing – at a rate of 6-7% per annum – we are witnessing a constant increase in price, related to the relatively limited supply capacity of the fields and farms in West Africa, which are the main producers.

Main drivers are its increased use not only in cosmetics but also as a food substitute to cocoa. This is linked to the high price of cocoa and as long as this continue growing, so will the demand for shea butter as a viable substitute.

In general terms, UK wholesale prices are in the average of $5.50 to $9 per kg, with retail prices shooting as high as £30/kg.

European rates are on the $9000/MT mark, followed by $6840/MT in the APAC region.

Where to buy Shea Butter

Online retailers or wholesalers – avg. price $14.50/kg

On BLK – $2/kg

Through BLK, you can buy directly from the farmers in Africa, with the quality assurance and the peace of mind that each seller has been pre-vetted and independently assessed with our rating method (looking at Quality – Cost – Service Delivery).

Check out our shea butter range now or contact us for any question.

The Reasons Behind a Commodity & Raw Materials Marketplace

BLK is the first dedicated commodity & raw materials marketplace. In today’s world, raw materials are still traded the old fashioned way: huge trading floors, calls, emails.

But people want to buy from people. And digitalisation is coming. So we brought commodity trading online for everyone to buy directly from producers.

What you need to know

The world’s raw materials consumption is over 9B tons per year. That’s over $4.5 trillion;
Commodities are produced mostly by small businesses, and their price inflates x 10 by the time you or I can purchase them, without much value being added;
The shipping costs for commodities amounts to a negligible fraction of their value: between 1 and 2 cents per ton per day;
99%+ of businesses in the UK and Europe are small businesses;
75% of UK businesses are one-men companies;
By buying from producers directly you can save on average 2.5 times what you’re currently paying.

The world’s economy is heavily reliant on raw materials.

Every year, the world consumes over 9 billion tons of raw materials, over $4.5 trillion-worth of trade.

The energy we consume, the goods we use, the food we eat. It is the fruit of the collective labour of millions all over the world. Farmers, miners, growers. Small businesses, invisible players scattered across the globe, feeding supply chains with ores, grain, coal, fuel, rice, animal feeds.

Through many stakeholders in the supply chains, raw materials pass from hand to hand, their price inflating at every stage, as everyone takes their own cut.

Before you or I can purchase them, raw materials’ price has increased by a tenfold. And yet they’re still the same. No value has been added – apart from transportation, which really accounts for a tiny fraction of commodities’ value.

Just to give you an idea, the cost of shipping crude oil is 2 cents of a dollar per ton per day. Shipping dry commodities costs just over 1 cent per ton per day.

Over 99% of businesses in the UK are small and medium-sized. That’s the very backbone of our economy. Looking at the rest of Europe, the situation doesn’t change. Italy, France, Spain, Poland, Germany; over 26 million companies. Indeed, in the UK alone, 75% of the businesses are one-man companies. People like us.

People buy from people. People buy from people they trust. That’s precisely why BLK exists. To let people buy from people, cheaper, global, direct.

Current Supply Chains Status

Wherever they are in the world, producers of raw materials are contracted to sell their produce to third-party, generally trading houses, which mass the output of thousands of individual producers to then ship it over via exporters/importers to major hubs where the goods are then broken down into smaller parcels and delivered by road or rail to larger manufacturers or distributors. These, in turn, repackage the goods and made them available for wholesale.

BLK is the first dedicated commodity & raw materials marketplace. — Supply chain for raw materials. The price increases x1o before you or I can purchase them.

At this point, the same kg of cashew nuts that the farmer in West Africa sold for under 50 cents, costs you £20. That’s 5500% increase. And yet, these are the same cashews that left the farm in Africa 3 weeks before.

The Internet as the Great Equaliser

Let’s look back at what happened in 1994. An American entrepreneur starts selling books out of his garage. Yet he doesn’t have a single book in store. People go online and buy the books, the orders are passed on to the libraries and shortly after the readers receive their purchase home. It was the advent of non-inventory marketplaces.

Fast forward to 2021. Over 2B people buy online. That’s over 80% of the people with an internet connection. In fact, it would be unthinkable today not being able to buy something online. Shopping from the comfort of our own homes has become the norm for most of us and the same way we buy a new laptop while sipping a coffee over the kitchen counter, scrolling on our phone, soon we will be buying online for our businesses.

COVID-19 has forced even the elderly to become more tech-savvy than they ever were or would have been and with millennials entering senior management positions into the job market, we’re seeing this trend increasing on a daily basis.

With the internet, the small organic cosmetics manufacturer out of Manchester can buy Shea Butter directly from the farmer in Togo. The former saves thousands of pounds in procurement costs – paying only $2000/ton instead of $9000 – the latter makes a much higher profit by selling to the final user directly.

Thanks to the internet, to digitalization, we can now reach across distances and language barriers, doing what was never possible before.

The Social Impact

Up until today, it was mostly about the many supporting the few. But with the internet we’re seeing a real shift.

If all businesses were to buy directly from the producers using a marketplace we would see a total re-distribution of the world’s wealth, away from the few and back to the many, away from the larger corporations and directly into the pockets of those who work the land and work their craft day in and day out.

It would contribute to create millions of new jobs, reduce poverty and vastly improve the living conditions for entire nations, reducing unemployment and supporting local communities.

The Environmental Impact

Quantifying the environmental may be difficult but we can try to run a quick calculation.

The UK imports over £200B per year of raw materials. A lot of these could be sourced locally, without the need for long sea journeys from across the globe. If just 1% of UK businesses were to source raw materials locally, this would contribute to a reduction of 2 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, whilst creating 14,000 jobs and adding £2.6B to the British economy.

A Real-life Story

BLK’s first order was made by a family-owned business that produces natural cosmetics with organic ingredients. Since then, they have been purchasing key ingredients for their cosmetics 2.5 times cheaper on average, delivered to their door directly.

To Summarize

The world consumes over 9B tons of raw materials per year. That’s over $4.5 trillion-worth of trade;
Most commodities are produced by small businesses, and their price inflates x 10 by the time you or I can purchase them, without much value being added;
The shipping costs for commodities amounts to a negligible fraction of their value: between 1 and 2 cents per ton per day;
You could save between 40 to 60% on average by buying online through BLK;
You could be selling directly to thousands of new customers, with higher profit margins, supporting local communities and reducing their overall carbon footprint.

Key Reasons to Buy/Sell on BLK

Automated purchase order generation, invoicing and integrated accounting – saving you over 1000 man-hours per year;
Find, benchmark and buy securely from a pool of vetted suppliers, saving between 40 to 60% on average on your procurement costs;
100% money-back guarantee;
Secure: pre-vetted suppliers only;
Find new customers and sell directly, without intermediaries, with improved margins;
Quality, Cost, Service Delivery. Pick suppliers on the basis of what really matters to you;
Reduce your carbon footprint and earn with carbon trading;
It’s 100% free.

BLK Shipping Weekly 18 June 21 – Shipping Market Rates Updates

Welcome to BLK Shipping Weekly, our Friday’s update from the shipping market. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.

Wet Cargo

Charter rates down, on all most vessel types, with the rare exceptions of Aframaxeson UKC. Good news for cargo owners, especially for unrefined products, which saw rates slumping by up to up to 61% WoW.

VLCC – It was a bloodbath for VLCCs this week, with some routes commanding negative charter rates. Very good news for shippers, especially those looking at cross-Atlantic routes. List of uncharted vessels remain high, with supply overpowering demand. Owners are now starting to turn down cargoes, in a bid to drive charter rates back up. Avg. VLCCs rate at $1300, significantly below OPEX costs. If you can, ship now. Outlook: Negative

Suezmax – rates still suffering from the oversupply of tonnage in the market. Ships coming out of charters increasing the supply of tonnage and driving rates down. Down on all major routes from 5 to 21% and rates now surpassing those of VLCCs, at $1900 on average. Outlook: Negative

Aframax – afra rates saw drops between 11 and 12%, on some routes, with demand for hold space still counterbalanced by relatively large supply of tonnage. Busier in the Med and Black Sea but not enough to counterbalance the availability of carrying capacity. Avg. charter rates set at $4900/day. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Products – softer rates, primarily driven by the low availability of tonnage in the Mediterraneand and Baltic, with rates down between 3% and 40% WoW Outlook: Stable.

Clean Products – weak to stable rates, owing to the fact that most world refineries are still operating under capacity due to the low demand for refined fuels. With airlines still down and road traffic at a fraction of the pre-pandemic levels the market remains far from its best shape, however, some routes saw near 600% increase which makes the general outlook look better for the weeks to come. Outlook: Positive

MR – uptake in demand drove rates up, with a positive outlook for the weeks ahead. Outlook: Positive

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers remains low. Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Stable

LR2 – In general, the market remains down between 12% and 22%. Outlook: Negative

Dirty Panamax – Rates softened everywhere, among fears of a new COVID wave due to the delta variant. Outlook: Stable

Dry Cargo

Capesize – Relatively slow uptake in rate growth, with spot demand weakened slightly in western regions due to summer holidays approaching. Outlook: Stable

Panamax – stable demand does not lead to expect a growth in rates going forward. Tendency to slightly weaken counterbalanced by the hold availability shortage. Outlook: Stable

Supramax – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021 and stabilised in May with no real surge expected. Outlook: Stable

Handysize – rates remained pretty much stable without much movement from the previous weeks.. Outlook: Stable

Container

On the raw materials side, however, and especially in chemical commodities, the high freight rates (now looking upwards of $10000 per TEU on the route China – Europe) now impact prices of goods to the extent that it is equivalent or cheaper to source from European suppliers.

We expect to see a continual decrease in smaller-batches shipments westbound from Asia to Europe, hopefully accompanied by a subsequent easing of the TEU rates towards the end of the year.

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Rates for Large Gas Carriers slumped up to 39% for large gas carriers. Cargo cancellations were the primary causes, resulting in oversupply of carrying capacity in all main routes. Pressurized and semi-pressurized vessel rates remained unchanged.

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our weekly shipping updates.

BLK – Il Marketplace di Materie Prime e Commodity

Chi Siamo

BLK nasce come il marketplace digitale dedicato alle commodity e alle materie prime.

Nasce dalla consapevolezza che la digitalizzazione del trading di commodity non è questione di se, ma di quando.

Nasce per consentire a chiunque, a prescindere dalle dimensioni della propria azienda, di comprare direttamente dai produttori, ovunque essi siano, pagando il valore reale delle merci, grazie ad un mercato trasparente e digitale.

La nostra mission è quella di consentire a chiunque di acquistare le materie prime necessarie al proprio business, con un semplice click. È inevitabile, lo abbiamo visto accadere a fine anni ‘90 con lo stravolgimento della vendita al dettaglio per mano di quelli che ora sono giganti dell’e-commerce.

Accadrà di nuovo, per gli acquisti B2B. Sta già accadendo. BLK ne è la forza motrice.

Marketplace

Acquista le materie prime per il tuo business comodamente da casa

La piattaforma che consente a chiunque di acquistare in sicurezza, in pochi semplici click. Permette di trovare fornitori locali e globali, di comparare prezzi, specifiche, termini di consegna. E di comprare come oggi siamo tutti abituati a fare, online, comodamente da casa.

Grazie alla generazione automatica di ordini e fatture e alla contabilità integrata, oggi BLK fa risparmiare in media 1000 ore uomo all’anno in mansioni di amministrazione.

Le micro e piccole imprese, mercato target del nostro marketplace, hanno dimezzato i loro costi di procurement (in media una riduzione dal 40% al 60%).

Supply Chain

In BLK mettiamo a disposizione le nostre competenze in supply chain management, negoziazione internazionale e project management per rendere le operazioni dei nostri partner più snelle, efficaci e redditizie.

Aggreghiamo il volume di molteplici aziende con quello di acquirenti in tutto il Regno Unito e in Italia, utilizzando il maggior potere di acquisto per negoziare accordi migliori con i fornitori a livello globale.

Ricerchiamo, verifichiamo e negoziamo direttamente con i produttori in vece dei nostri partner, organizzando la logistica e fornendo una soluzione completa di gestione di supply chain per mantenere più snelli possibile costi fissi, riducendo al contempo i costi variabili.

Ci rivolgiamo, in questo caso, a corporate e medie imprese, aiutandole ad efficientare i loro processi di procurement, automatizzare generazione ordini, fatturazione e reportistica, con l’obiettivo di aumentare la loro competitività sui mercati esteri.

Decarbonizzazione

Riduci l’impatto ambientale della tua supply chain e guadagna con i carbon credits.

Aiutiamo i nostri partner a ridurre l’impatto ambientale acquistando da fornitori locali o aggregando volume con quello di altre aziende. Inoltre, organizziamo la logistica nel modo più ecologico possibile, riducendo le emissioni complessive della supply chain dei nostri clienti.

Le aziende che si affidano a noi possono anche guadagnare da questo taglio delle emissioni: il loro minor impatto ambientale viene premiato con dei Carbon Credits, scambiabili sulla Borsa Ambientale Europea.

Con BLK, diventare “green” significa generare un flusso di entrate completamente nuovo!

Rating

BLK ha sviluppato un sistema di rating proprietario (in attesa di brevetto) per valutare i parametri chiave dei nostri clienti e fornitori.

Qualità – Costo – Servizio sono le fondamenta del nostro criterio.

Aiutiamo le imprese a comprendere il loro posizionamento nel mercato in base a queste tre aree e le supportiamo nel miglioramento del loro positioning tramite una guida dettagliata che si traduce in consigli operativi e attuabili.

Inoltre, il nostro rating fornisce un’ulteriore conferma dello standing dei fornitori, consentendo a chi acquista di basare le proprie decisioni su parametri rilevanti e sulla consapevolezza di di avere a disposizione partner commerciali previamente valutati in modo approfondito.

Investor Relations

Con sede operativa a Glasgow, BLK è stata selezionata come una delle top 30 tech start-up del Regno Unito.

Dopo un seed round concluso a gennaio 2021, siamo supportati da uno dei migliori acceleratori in italia, Enry’s Island, e contiamo di un team distribuito tra UK, Italia ed Emirati Arabi.

Team

Guidato da founders provenienti da shipping, commodity trading, project management e banking, il team BLK è strutturato in quattro unit: Prodotto, Mercato, Fundraising e Corporate, ciascuno preposto a specifiche mansioni e ben posizionato per supportare la rapida crescita di BLK.

Prodotto: designer e sviluppatori

Mercato: vendite one-to-one, vendite one-to-many e digital PR

Fundraising: investor relations

Corporate: HR, legal, supply chain

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Per approfondire come potremmo costruire una partnership strategica sia industriale che in chiave fundraising, contattare: Gabriele Dadò – Founder & CEO gabriele.dado@blk-global.com +44 7757630638

BLK Announces Partnership With Indulatex

Glasgow Tech E-procurement Startup to Source 4 Key Chemical Commodities

BLK – the raw materials marketplace – and Indulatex – Portugal’s leading producer of reference of latex compounds and industrial adhesives – today announced a strategic partnership aimed at increasing supply chain flexibility and maximising transparency around pricing for key chemical commodities.

The alignment of vision between Indulatex and BLK, centered around transparency and efficiency, converged in the adoption of BLK as the go-to platform for Indulatex’s procurement. Bringing under the same roof a comprehensive Supply Chain Management tools, invoicing and order generation automation and thorough supplier assessment, BLK allows for full transparency on all of the chemical commodities prices to be sourced by Indulatex. This is delivered via a marketplace where highly vetted suppliers from the EU, Asia, USA, Africa, UAE and Australia sell chemicals and other commodities with a full price transparency, giving manufacturers in Europe and the UK, for the first time, the possibility to buy spot on the market rather than relying on long-term supply agreements.

Additionally, BLK provides a clear snapshot of a company’s actual operating profile, strengths and weaknesses under the Quality, Cost and Service Delivery verticals. As part of BLK’s commitment towards the environment and decarbonisation, BLK suppliers’ proprietary vetting procedure makes use of Extended Exergy Analysis, a method that allows BLK to evaluate all the intakes and outlets of a company (in terms of capital, human resources, energy, goods, etc) and calculate the business’ overall environmental impact.

To date, 100+ businesses buy and sell on BLK’s Marketplace, with larger corporate clients opting for BLK Supply Chain, the more bespoke solution whereby BLK vets specific suppliers and negotiates on customers’ behalf, leveraging the purchasing volume of multiple buyers to get best prices and reduce the overall shipping carbon footprint.

What does it mean for the market?

Efficiency and flexibility in supply chains, lower procurement costs and full price transparency with the quality assurance of BLK’s proprietary vetting system. This allows companies to scale much more quickly, whilst remaining lean and increasing their bottom line.

Moreover, with the reduction of emissions through BLK’s supply chain service, companies can earn from the reduction by trading their carbon allowances on the European Carbon Exchange through BLK. With BLK, becoming green means opening a whole new revenue stream.

For small businesses in particular, this means leveraging their lower fixed costs to take on multinationals and compete on a level playing-field, having reduced their procurement costs thanks to the transparency provided by BLK’s Marketplace.

“We are delighted to share the same ideals and long-term vision with Indulatex and even more excited to see this translating into a winning business partnership” says Gabriele Dadò, BLK’s founder & CEO.

“We’re committed to bringing transparency, efficiency and structure to supply chains. We’re committed to connecting businesses worldwide, allowing people to buy from people. We’re committed to enable anyone to be seen, connect and compete. The partnership with Indulatex allows us to do just that, and we are happy to welcome Joel and his team in the BLK family!”

For more information about BLK and how we can support your business reduce its procurement costs, visit us at BLK Supply Chain, BLK Rating, or

Contact: Gabriele Dadò gabriele.dado@blk-global.com, www.blkcommodities.com

BLK Shipping Weekly – Shipping Market Rates Updates

Welcome to BLK Shipping Weekly, our Friday’s update from the shipping market. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.

Wet Cargo

Charter rates stabilising, on all trades in view of the demand uplift in June, driven by easing of lockdowns in UK and Europe and roll-out of vaccination programmes in the western countries. These factors are expected to drive energy demand up and cargo with it, increasing the overall demand for tonnage and hold space. With the winter months ahead of us, rates can be expected to start picking up for the rest of the year.

VLCC – the beginning of June is looking still quiet, with some softening of rates across the Atlantic, counterbalanced stronger performance in the Pacific. Outlook: Stable

Suezmax – rates still suffering from the oversupply of tonnage in the market. Relatively stable trend on all routes, with supply and demand nearly balanced. Outlook: Stable

Aframax – relatively stable rates, with demand for hold space still counterbalanced by relatively large supply of tonnage. Most cargoes are fixed far in advance and therefore no significant movements are expected. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Products – rates continue picking up, primarily driven by the low availability of tonnage in the Mediterranean and Baltic. Outlook: Positive

Clean Products – weaker rates compared to may, owing to the fact that most world refineries are still operating under capacity due to the low demand for refined fuels. With airlines still down and road traffic at a fraction of the pre-pandemic levels the market remains weak. Outlook: Negative

MR – overall performance weakened, with charterers going for long range tankers for the same routes as a reasonable alternative to MR.. Outlook: Negative

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers picking up, as their rates closed in with those of the MRs and are now being seen as a suitable alternative Outlook: Stable

LR2 – Tonnage availability came back into the market, weakening the rates. Outlook: Negative

Handy – Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Panamax – Rates on the rise, looking positive to the summer, when investors anticipate a further increase of energy requirements from western nations. Further rise driven by reduction in tonnage offering especially in the Mediterranean. Outlook: Positive

Dry Cargo

Capesize – Relatively slow declining trend, with spot demand weakened slightly in western regions due to summer holidays approaching. Outlook: Negative

Panamax – stable demand does not lead to expected growth in rates going forward. Tendency to slightly weaken counterbalanced by the hold availability shortage. Outlook: Stable

Supramax – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021 and stabilised in may with no real surge expected. Outlook: Stable

Handysize – rates rising WoW, primarily driven by grain, coal and cement trade in the APAC region. Port congestions in Indonesia strengthened the growth, which looks positive overall for owners. Outlook: Positive

Container

Container rates continue with their strong rally on all fronts, although the curve seems to be flattening a little bit. Demand looks strong and will continue to be as western economies get out of lockdowns and people shop around for finished goods, using up the savings gathered during the pandemic. At the same time, a large share of ships is out of service for dry dockings and BWTSs installations for the compliance with the Ballast Water Management Convention. It seems that the IMO’s exercise of forcing the BMW Convention on to owners to reduce the overall supply of carrying capacity and support rates shooting up has worked its charm, with many vessels being scrapped simply because the cost of the system installation was uneconomical.

We’re expecting to see a stabilisation to this trend as more vessels come out od dry docks and resume normal operations, coupled with the effect of inflation – which is going to off-set the buying craze and put a lid on overall demand.

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Rates for Large Gas Carriers continued to decline between 4% to 6%, with cargo cancellations being the primary causes, resulting in oversupply of carrying capacity in all main routes. Pressurized and semi-pressurized vessel rates remained unchanged.

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our weekly shipping updates.

BLK Shipping Weekly – Shipping Market Rates Updates

Welcome to BLK Shipping Weekly, our Friday’s update from the shipping market. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.

Wet Cargo

Charter rates stabilising, pretty much on all trades in view of the demand uplift in June, driven by easing of lockdowns in UK and Europe and roll-out of vaccination programmes in the western countries. These factors are expected to drive energy demand up and cargo with it, increasing the overall demand for tonnage and hold space. With the winter months ahead of us, rates can be expected to start picking up for the rest of the year.

VLCC – rates grew fdue to the positive sentiment given by the possibility of US lifting sanctions on Iran. Outlook: Positive

Suezmax – rates still suffering from the oversupply of tonnage in the market. Relatively stable trend on all routes, with supply and demand nearly balanced. Outlook: Stable

Aframax – relatively stable rates, with demand for hold space still counterbalanced by relatively large supply of tonnage. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Products – stronger rates, primarily driven by the low availability of tonnage ub the Mediterraneand and Baltic. Outlook: Positive

MR – uptake in demand drove rates up, with a positive outlook for the weeks ahead. Outlook: Positive

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers remains low. Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Stable

LR2 – Tonnage availability declined with a subsequent strengthening of the rates. Outlook: Positive

Handy – Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Gloomier in SEA. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Panamax – Rates on the rise, looking positive to the summer, when investors anticipate a further increase of energy requirements from western nations. Further raise driven by reduction in tonnage offering especially in the Mediterranean. Outlook: Positive

Dry Cargo

Capesize – Relatively slow uptake in rate growth, with spot demand weakened slightly in western regions due to summer holidays approaching. Outlook: Stable

Panamax – stable demand does not lead to expect a growth in rates going forward. Tendency to slightly weaken counterbalanced by the hold availability shortage. Outlook: Stable

Supramax – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021 and stabilised in may with no real surge expected. Outlook: Stable

Handysize – rates climbing steadily WoW, primarily driven by grain, coal and cement trade in the APAC region. Outlook: Positive

Container

We’re expecting to see a brake to this trend, however, with the effect of inflation – which is going to off-set the buying craze and put a lid on overall demand.

Apart fo the sharper Feeder 1700 TEU growth of 4% WoW, all other rates seem to be slowing down their rate of growth and we are hopeful we will see the trend reversing before the end of the year.

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Rates for Large Gas Carriers slumped 14% and 21% for 145k and 160k m3 LNGs respectively. Cargo cancellations were the primary causes, resulting in oversupply of carrying capacity in all main routes. Pressurized and semi-pressurized vessel rates remained unchanged.

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our weekly shipping updates.

BLK Shipping Weekly – Shipping Market Rates Updates

Welcome to BLK Shipping Weekly, our Friday’s update from the shipping market. In this issue, we’ll be covering:

Wet Cargo
Dry Cargo
Containers
Gas

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.

Wet Cargo

Charter rates appear to be stabilising, especially in view of the demand uplift in June, driven by easing of lockdowns in UK and Europe and roll-out of vaccination programmes in the western countries. These factors are expected to drive energy demand up and cargo with it, increasing the overall demand for tonnage and hold space.

With the winter months ahead of us, rates can be expected to start picking up for the rest of the year.

VLCC – rates fell from the all-time high in April 2020 and continued sliding. Outlook: Stable

Suezmax – rates still suffering from the oversupply of tonnage in the market. Downward trend on all routes, meaning good news for shippers. Outlook: Negative

Aframax – relatively stable rates, with demand for hold space still counterbalanced by relatively large supply of tonnage. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Products – stronger rates, primarily driven by a mini-surge in demand for MR tanker tonnage, especially on atlantic routes.

Clean Products – weak rates, owing to the fact that most world refineries are still operating under capacity due to the low demand for refined fuels. With airlines still down and road traffic at a fraction of the pre-pandemic levels, the market remains weak.

MR – uptake in demand drove rates up, with a positive outlook for the weeks ahead. Outlook: Positive

LR1 – demand for log-range tankers remains low. Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Stable

LR2 – demand for log-range tankers remains low. Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Outlook: Negative

Handy – Slow pick-up is possible depending on the easing of lockdowns and demand for refined products on each side of the Atlantic. Gloomier in SEA. Outlook: Stable

Dirty Panamax – Rates on the rise, looking positive to the summer, when investors anticipate a further increase of energy requirements from western nations. Outlook: Positive

Dry Cargo

Capesize – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021, although the spot demand weakened in western regions due to summer holidays approaching. Outlook: Stable

Panamax – stable demand does not lead to expect a growth in rates going forward. Outlook: Stable

Supramax – rates climbing steadily over the course of 2021, although the spot demand weakened in western regions due to summer holidays approaching. Outlook: Stable

Handysize – rates climbing steadily WoW, primarily driven by demand for raw materials in China. Outlook: Positive

Container

Container rates surge continues unhindered on all fronts, with rates up from 100% to 163% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Demand looks strong and will continue to be as western economies get out of lockdowns and people shop around for finished goods, using up the savings gathered during the pandemic.

We’re expecting to see a brake to this trend, however, with the effect of inflation, which is going to off-set the buying craze and put a lid on overall demand.

Inflation in the UK has doubled MoM, hitting 1.5% in April, and it will continue rising. Same goes for the US, where prices surged 4.2%, up from 2.6% in March and the EU, with inflation currently at 1.6%. As some central banks work to put a brake on inflation by upping base rates, increase in consumer prices may hamper demand after the summer.

We are therefore likely to see a stabilisation or decline of container rates as we progress into Q3 2021.

Outlook: Positive

Gas

Rates for Large Gas Carriers picked up globally, supported primarily by the low availability for suitable tonnage in the Asia-Pacific regions.

As plenty of tonnage is currently tied-up in dock for ballast water treatment systems installation, we are to expect a general softening of the rates next month, as the ships come back into the market.

Outlook: Stable

To learn more about how we can support your business shipping as cheaply and environmentally-friendly as possible, visit us at BLK.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our Shipping Weekly and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to never miss an update.