03 / Capabilities

Pit to port

Trading, rail freight, siding management and material holding — and the five execution steps that join them. Nothing in this chain is subcontracted to an unnamed third party.

Services

Four services, one counterparty

Bulk cargo is usually lost in the handovers — between the trader and the railer, between the railer and the siding, between the siding and the vessel. We hold all four, so there are no handovers to lose it in.

Trading

Physical trade in chrome, coal, manganese and magnetite. We buy at the mine and sell to the end user, taking title and carrying the position rather than introducing two parties and stepping back.

Rail freight

Wagon allocation, train planning and execution on the export corridors. Tonnage moves to a published schedule instead of chasing whatever road capacity happens to be available that week.

Siding management

Running the siding: tipping and loading, front-end loaders, weighbridge, wagon turnaround, and the paperwork every movement generates. Wagon standing time is the cost that quietly ruins bulk margins, so it is managed directly.

Material holding

Stockpile capacity at the siding to accumulate a parcel over several trains, blend to a target grade, and hold it until the vessel is nominated — instead of forcing a sale to clear the ground.

Siding with loaded wagons and weighbridge — Siding operations — loading and weighbridge

Stockpiles and front-end loaders at the siding — Material holding — stockpile and blending

The chain

Sourcing at the mine gate

Producer verified before offer

Material is taken on allocation directly from producers on the eastern and western limbs of the Bushveld Complex, and from our own chrome wash and concentration plant. Nothing is offered to a buyer before the allocation is confirmed in writing by the producer.

Producer file checked: mining right or permit, company registration, VAT registration, bank confirmation letter
Plant visited and material sampled before the parcel is committed
Written allocation held on file for every offer we issue
No back-to-back offers on material we have not seen

Quality control

Independent load-port assay

Sampling and analysis is performed by an independent inspectorate at load port — not at the mine, and not by us. The certificate therefore describes the material that actually sails, which is the only assay a buyer should accept.

Sampling and analysis by an independent international inspectorate appointed per parcel
Certificate of Analysis and Certificate of Weight issued to both buyer and seller
Umpire clause: a third accredited laboratory settles any dispute, cost split, result binding
Buyer's own nominated inspector accommodated at load port, at buyer's cost
Retained samples held and sealed for the duration of the contract

Rail freight, siding and holding

Inland siding to Durban, Richards Bay, Maputo

Material is railed from the inland siding to the port on wagons we allocate and manage, with road haulage used only for the short leg to the siding. Every truck crosses a weighbridge and every wagon is weighed, so tonnage is reconciled at three points rather than asserted once.

Wagon allocation and train planning against a confirmed vessel and laycan
Weighbridge ticket per truck; wagon numbers and weights recorded per rake
Stockpiling at the siding to accumulate and blend a parcel to target grade
Breakbulk nominations handled from 5,000 t; containerised parcels on request
Stockpile capacity held so a buyer's laycan drives the shipment, not our ground space

Export documentation

Cleared in our own name

Customs clearance is filed in the company's own name, not through a third party's exporter code. The buyer's bank therefore sees one consistent shipper across the invoice, the bill of lading and the declaration.

Commercial invoice and packing list issued by IT AND E (Pty) Ltd
SARS customs declaration filed in the company's own name
Bill of Lading, Certificate of Origin, Certificate of Analysis and Certificate of Weight
Non-hazardous / IMO declaration where the carrier requires it
Marine insurance certificate on CIF terms

Payment structuring

Bank instruments, company account only

Settlement runs through banking instruments against documents. Funds are received into the company's own bank account, in the company's registered name. We do not ask a counterparty to pay a personal or third-party account, and a request to do so from anyone claiming to represent us should be treated as fraudulent.

Irrevocable documentary Letter of Credit at sight, confirmed by a first-class bank
Telegraphic transfer against scanned documents for established counterparties
Escrow or bank-to-bank arrangements considered on trial parcels
Standby LC or partial prepayment structures on request, both sides secured
No advance payment to any account other than the registered company account

Document set

What arrives with the shipment

The full set is couriered and sent electronically on the same day the vessel sails. A buyer's bank should be able to work the documents without coming back to us for a correction.

Commercial invoice

Issued by IT AND E (Pty) Ltd, matched line for line to the LC.

Bill of Lading

Original set, shipper named as the company clearing the goods.

Certificate of Analysis

Independent inspectorate, sampled at load port.

Certificate of Weight

Reconciled against weighbridge tickets and container seals.

Certificate of Origin

South Africa, issued through the recognised chamber.

Packing list

Container and seal numbers, net and gross per unit.

Bulk carrier loading with mobile harbour crane — Load port — vessel loading under independent survey

Counterparty pack

A KYC pack is available on request before any commercial discussion: company registration certificate, tax and VAT registration, identification for signatories, proof of address, bank confirmation letter and a beneficial ownership declaration. We expect the same from a counterparty and will ask for it.

Compliance detail

Enquiries

Ask for the procedure in writing. We will send it.

Draft contract, assay procedure and document set are available to a counterparty before any commercial terms are discussed.

Thulo@itande.net All contacts