The National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) has informed GTR that the launch of its new structured trade commodity finance (STCF) facility was completed in record time.

Madhavan Rajagopalan, executive, trade finance products, products & channels at NBF tells GTR: “Compared to the market, we were quick enough to launch this new product in about three months.”

The new specialised form of trade finance aims to be a one-stop-shop solution for the cross-border commodity trading requirements of companies across the UAE.

With STCF, the bank will work with clients to structure comprehensive, short-to-medium-term financing arrangements to support their commodity trading activity.

Typically, STCF transactions are structured around a company’s supply chain, from the purchase to sale and export of commodities and materials, and constitute a full suite of trade financing and foreign exchange hedging tools.

“The proposed product will cover a wide range of commodities such as agri commodities, metals and petroleum by-products, etc. However, various aspects of the commodity per se will be taken into consideration while financing. Further, the bank’s standard risk policies would be applicable to this type of financing,” adds Rajagopalan.

Vikram Pradhan, NBF’s head of corporate and institutional banking, says, “The introduction of STCF underscores the bank’s rising stature as a market maker in cross-border transactions. NBF’s introduction of its own structured trade facility therefore sends a strong signal to the market of our technical competency, client focus as well as ability to manage complex, large-scale transactions.

“As trade continues to open up and companies in the UAE venture into new territory, we remain committed to working closely with clients to develop innovative solutions attuned to their businesses, while helping raise awareness of the importance of this sector in the local economy.”

NBF recently posted a 27% profit growth in 2014 Q1.