PortTrade Trading

A trading company brokers international purchase and sale: it finds the supplier or the buyer abroad, negotiates price and terms, structures the payment and runs the foreign trade operation through to delivery.

What sets it apart from a freight forwarder or a customs broker is the scope: the forwarder handles the transport and the broker handles the clearance; the trading company also takes on the commercial relationship (sourcing, negotiation, contract and, depending on the model, the purchase risk itself).

In Brazil, Decree-Law No. 1,248/1972 created the export trading company with a special registration, but the market uses "trading company" in a broader sense, for any company that does this intermediation.

Both models are governed by Normative Instruction RFB No. 1,861/2018 and must be declared in Siscomex. Both companies need a RADAR registration, and the link between them is recorded in the import declaration.

• On behalf of a third party: the importer provides a service. The party that buys the goods abroad and pays for them is the acquirer; the importer files the clearance on behalf of the acquirer.
• To order: the importer buys with its own funds the goods it already knows it will resell to a predetermined orderer. It is a purchase and a resale, and the import risk sits with the importer.

The choice changes the cash flow, the tax liability and who answers to the authorities. That is why it is settled before shipment, not after.

Hiring a trading company usually pays off in four situations:

• The company does not work in foreign trade yet: no RADAR registration, no team to run the process, and it needs to import now.
• Working capital is the bottleneck: in an import to order the trading company funds the purchase, and the company pays on the domestic resale.
• Volume does not reach scale: the trading company pools demand from several clients and negotiates with the manufacturer on terms a single purchase does not reach.
• The product or the origin is new: the trading company already has the supplier relationships and knows what the country of origin requires.

Once a company imports regularly, holds its own registration and has its own team, a trading company fits better on one-off operations: a new origin, a new product, a demand peak.

Paying a supplier abroad requires an exchange contract closed with an institution authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil. The contract ties the remittance to the foreign trade operation behind it (the import declaration, in the case of a purchase).

Since Law No. 14,286/2021, the Brazilian foreign exchange framework, the rules on exchange and international capital sit in a single statute, with fewer document requirements for smaller operations.

The cost and the risk of the operation come down to three variables: the payment method agreed (advance payment, collection, letter of credit), the term and the exchange rate movement between closing the deal and settlement. We set that combination with the client before the order is placed.

International sourcing is the stage before the logistics: identify manufacturers abroad, qualify the ones that can actually deliver, compare offers and negotiate price, lead time and delivery terms.

Qualification checks production capacity, the certifications the product requires, export track record and commercial terms. A low price from a supplier that cannot issue the right paperwork costs more at clearance.

PortTrade Trading keeps direct contact with manufacturers in the Energy segment in countries such as China, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain.

Before the customs paperwork come the commercial documents, which are what defines the deal:

• Proforma Invoice: the offer from the supplier with product, quantity, price, Incoterm and lead time. It is the basis for the order and for closing the exchange contract.
• Purchase Order / sale and purchase agreement: formalizes the acceptance and the obligations of each party, including warranties and penalties.
• Commercial Invoice: the final invoice for the operation, which travels with the cargo and is the basis for customs valuation.
• Packing List: breaks down packages, weights and dimensions. It is what the physical inspection checks against.

The Incoterm chosen (EXW, FOB, CIF and the others published by the International Chamber of Commerce) runs through all of them: it defines how far the responsibility of the seller goes over cost, risk and contracting the transport.