The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) is the only commodity exchange in the Republic of Belarus and the largest spot exchange in Eastern Europe with an annual turnover of 2.1 billion USD and 21 000 members from 63 countries.

Founded in 2004, BUCE is a crucial economic institution that ensures implementation of market pricing and equal access to commodities for all economic agents. Besides fostering a healthy competitive environment and setting a fair price range, BUCE also contributes to the development of an organized wholesale market, facilitates movement of goods from manufacturers to customers, and increases transparency of wholesale trade.

All transactions are executed online using personal electronic digital signatures (EDS) issued by BUCE’s Certifying Authority.

To become a trader one has to choose from two options:

• trade on one’s own (accreditation and EDS are required)
• trade via an exchange broker – a company that charges a fee for executing buy and sell orders on behalf of its clients. Some 40 brokers, including foreign residents, are now cooperating with BUCE on a regular basis. 

Over 3000 commodity items are listed at BUCE. They are subdivided as follows:

1. Metal products: ferrous and non-ferrous metals and articles thereof, scrap and waste of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, cabling and wires, coke, and coal.  
2. Timber products: round wood, sawn timber, wood boards, plywood, paper, cardboard, wood chips, fuel briquettes and pellets, timber-harvesting services.
3. Agricultural products: milk and whey powder, industrial casein, dairy butter, cottage cheese, rennet cheeses, meat, flour, rawhides, oilcakes, vegetable oils and seeds.
4. Industrial and consumer goods: a wide range of commodities – from advanced industrial machinery and vehicles to construction materials and food.
5. Construction materials: export of materials highly sought after in the construction sector.

Business opportunities

Industrial and consumer goods (ICG) platform is a highly efficient state-of-the-art tool for doing business in Belarus and elsewhere. In contrast to metal, timber, and agricultural trading sections, it is a full-featured E-commerce marketplace with massive potential.

Key advantages:

• Virtually unlimited range of goods
• Thousands of buyers and sellers from around the globe
• Available 24/7 in multiple languages
•  Accessible from any Internet-connected device
• Supply-and-demand-based pricing
• Instant execution of buy and sell orders
• Minimal risks and paperwork

The entire trading process is closely monitored by BUCE so that all contractual obligations were fulfilled in full and on time.

Thanks to electronic document interchange, one can trade at ICG platform from any part of the world, while its multilingual interface allows placing buy and sell orders in several languages.

Besides the price, traders can also negotiate quantity, terms of payment, and place of delivery.

To help its clients with transportation of purchased goods, BUCE leverages the exchange logistics mechanism. It rests on three pillars: exchange warehouses, exchange carriers and exchange experts. 

Exchange warehouses registered abroad bring the goods as close to the buyer as possible allowing to collect them on DAP/DAT terms from an exchange warehouse located in the country of destination. Some 28 exchange warehouses are currently operating in Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia.

Exchange carriers (leading Belarusian and foreign shipping companies cooperating with BUCE) are responsible for delivering purchased goods to exchange warehouses and other locations convenient for the buyer. 

The quality of delivered products is ensured by yet another element of the exchange logistics mechanism – exchange experts. These are independent survey companies from Belarus and other countries.

BUCE also helps its clients minimize non-payment and non-delivery risks by:

• registering only trustworthy companies with unblemished reputation and credit rating;
• offering a free of charge letter of credit service;
• monitoring all exchange transactions to nip potential violations of contractual obligations in the bud;
• helping the parties settle their disputes out of court or – should this fail – handing the most complicated cases for review to BUCE Arbitration Commission.

E-procurement

BUCE is an authorized operator of an E-procurement platform (WWW.ZAKUPKI.BUTB.BY).

Three procurement procedures are available: electronic auctions, requests for quotation, and open tender. The platform is used for both: government procurements and procurements made by private companies at their own expense.

E-property trading

BUCE also operates an E-property trading platform (WWW.ET.BUTB.BY), which allows auctioning buildings, machines, equipment, land plots, leasing rights, etc. Both public and private property can be put on sale. Physical persons and corporate entities from Belarus and abroad can participate in electronic auctions.

Information services

For effective monitoring and analysis of commodity markets in Belarus and abroad, BUCE has developed a number of information and analytical products:

• Exchange commodity market review
• OTC commodity market review
• Exchange bulletin
• Data retrieval from BUCE database
• Real-time access to information about executed buy and sell orders for metal products.

Due to high concentration of supply and demand, BUCE’s information and analytical products provide a clear picture of the situation in exchange commodity markets and serve as guidance for market participants. BUCE’s analytical information is disseminated on subscription basis among traders, brokers, information agencies, and other stakeholders.

This said, BUCE can offer its clients a set of powerful tools for buying and selling commodities as well as ample opportunities for entering new markets – cost-free, risk-free, and trouble-free.