Independent experts for international law firms and their clients in complex disputes, mediations, arbitrations and tribunal proceedings.
Independent commodity advisors to producers, end-users, traders, financiers and governments.
We take a small number of engagements where the cost of getting it wrong is high, and the answer requires commercial, operational, legal and financial judgement to come together.
We are deliberately selective in what we take on, and focus on areas where our operating and commercial experience allows us to add significant value directly. Where specialist expertise outside our areas is required, we can work alongside or refer to other advisers.
Independent expert work for law firms and their clients in commodity disputes, including early case assessment, written and reply reports, expert conferences and joint statements, testimony and cross-examination.
Advising clients directly on emerging disputes, including counterparty negotiations and pre-litigation resolution.
More on disputes and independent expert workSale & Purchase, Offtake, Marketing and Prepayment Agreements. Advising on commercial terms, pricing mechanisms and structures designed to work throughout the life of the contract.
Designing and reviewing hedging programmes, exposure mapping, counterparty risk and inventory financing structures for producers, traders and the financiers behind them.
Independent commercial reviews of the commodity, pricing and performance assumptions underpinning offtake, prepayment and inventory-financing structures for lenders and investors. Due diligence for funds, family offices and acquirers, and governance and operating advice for boards of producing and trading assets.
More than 50 years of experience between us, most of it inside major commodity businesses - running trading desks, structuring transactions and negotiating across the table from producers, traders, end-users, governments and financiers. We established Spearpoint to bring that experience directly to clients looking for independent, senior commercial judgement.
Between us, we have lived, worked and conducted business across Australia, Africa, Europe, Russia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and extensively throughout Asia, including China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. We speak several of the relevant languages, but the greater value is understanding how commercial relationships, negotiations and decision-making differ across markets, and knowing how to bridge those differences in practice.
Tim was formerly Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Trading at Noble Group, with oversight across the Group's global commodity trading portfolio. During more than 12 years at Noble, he managed several global trading divisions including Iron Ore, Chrome & Manganese Ore, Bauxite, Alumina & Aluminium, Metallurgical Coal, and Indonesian Energy Coal. He also led the establishment of Kalon Resources - a wholly-owned subsidiary specialising in industrial and technology metals.
Prior to Noble, Tim worked with Barclays Capital in its Mining & Metals Investment Banking team, and with STRACON & Thiess as a Mining Engineer and Project Manager in Australia, Indonesia and Peru.
He has more than 25 years' experience across multiple commodities, including senior trading and executive roles, and board-level appointments at seven companies across commodity trading, mining and metals, including as an Executive Director of Noble Group. He holds an MBA with Distinction from London Business School, a Graduate Diploma in Finance & Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia, and a Bachelor of Mining Engineering (Hons) from The University of Queensland.
Fluent in English and Spanish, with working knowledge of Bahasa Indonesia.
tim@spearpointcommodities.comLouis was Global Head of Marketing for iron ore, aluminium and alumina at Noble Group, where he worked for over six years.
Prior to Noble, Louis spent over a decade based in China. After serving as a trade policy officer for the European Commission Delegation following China's accession to the WTO, he was CEO and co-founder of globalORE, which became the world's largest iron ore trading platform, with BHP, Rio Tinto, Vale, Baosteel, Minmetals and Glencore as founding shareholders. He started his career as a commercial lawyer in London. He navigates comfortably between Chinese and Western commercial perspectives, particularly in disputes, mediations and complex negotiations.
Louis has over 25 years' experience, a deep understanding of government policy-making, and dual legal qualifications in New York and England and Wales. He holds an MBA from London Business School and an LLB from Durham University.
Fluent in English, Mandarin and French.
louis@spearpointcommodities.comWe typically get the call when:
A law firm requires an independent commodity expert to assess a claim or provide evidence in a dispute, mediation, arbitration or tribunal proceeding.
Senior commercial advice is required in relation to:
An independent commercial review, due diligence or senior judgement is required before approving a significant transaction, financing, investment or strategic decision. This may include reviewing the commodity assumptions, pricing mechanics, performance obligations and commercial risks underlying an offtake, prepayment or inventory-financing structure.
Our focus is practical: understanding how the transaction or market works, where value and risk sit, and giving clients clear, independent judgement they can act on.
Client names, counterparties and commercially sensitive details have been anonymised.
Acting as an independent expert for international law firms across multiple commodity disputes - providing pre-submission technical and commercial analysis, initial and reply reports, expert conferences and joint statements, testimony and cross-examination in arbitration proceedings.
Working with a large Chinese state-owned enterprise to manage its significant exposure to an overseas investment implicated in a series of commercial disputes relating to the supply of raw materials to overseas customers.
Acting for a coal buyer whose supplier defaulted on a fixed-price contract after a sharp adverse market move - de-escalated before formal proceedings and negotiated a restructured agreement acceptable to both parties.
Negotiating a multi-million-tonne offtake agreement between an Australian miner and a trading house with embedded trade-financing structures, providing advance financing and a secure offtake channel for the miner.
Advising an Indonesian coal miner on multi-million-tonne, long-term marketing, offtake and prepayment arrangements, including commercial terms, pricing and prepayment structures.
Working with a Central Asian producer to advise on key terms of aluminium sales contracts; implement sales diversification strategies to manage buyer risk; and consider the establishment of an offshore trading business to independently handle sales, marketing and risk management of its product portfolio.
Implementing the sales strategy and agency structure for a leading African chrome supplier to increase direct customer relationships across Asia and put in place more centralised end-user pricing information to improve profitability.
Formulating the marketing strategy for an African tungsten supplier and setting up its logistics network in order to establish a new customer base in foreign markets and better pricing through improved product blending adapted to those new markets.
Advising on global aggregation strategies for the sourcing of tantalum and niobium in the technology metals sector for a trader looking to diversify its supply chain away from East Asia and re-localise closer to Atlantic-focused supply chains.
Arranging inventory financing across the supply chain (truck, rail, ocean freight and stockpile management at transit points) to reduce working capital costs and optimise shipment quantities for an African manganese producer with distant inland mining operations.
Designing an electronic trading marketplace in China for an overseas producer with robust inventory management systems linked to instantaneous payment platforms with domestic banks for port stock trading of iron ore - providing verifiable, market-based pricing data.
Reviewing the commercial terms, pricing mechanics, performance obligations and commodity risks underlying an offtake-backed prepayment or inventory-financing facility for a financial institution considering the transaction.
Providing board-level advice to a refinery in the strategic review of its overall management and operations, covering corporate governance standards, safety and environmental policies, management incentives, capex and opex budgeting, and sales and marketing policies.
Advising company boards on the major restructuring of multiple tin assets into a new vehicle for international investors, including negotiations and restructuring of various offtake agreements with embedded prepayments.
Every hour you're charged is one of ours. The partners who scope the engagement are the people who do the work.
Hourly, retainer and fixed-fee arrangements are available, depending on the nature and certainty of the scope.
We work independently of trading houses, banks and large consulting networks. When engaged by a law firm, our opinions remain our own. If a conflict exists or could be perceived, we say so before we start.
We respond personally within 24 hours.
