Singapore has long been one of Asia's leading hubs for international trade. Both its courts and renowned arbitration centres (SIAC and SCMA) are popular choices for dispute resolution in the sector.
Click here to download a copy of our international disputes briefing on international trade.
Commodities disputes are often time-sensitive and require an understanding of the commodity involved. We have acted for and against traders of oil and gas, metals, grain, fabrics, and electronic components, and letters of credit, trade finance fraud, and trade insurance.
Our lawyers' recent experience in this sector includes:
- A global bank in an arbitration relating to its exposure under a high profile multi-billion dollar commodity financing fraud in Qingdao, China (SIAC, Singapore).
- Japanese trading company in making recoveries under a trade insurance policy covering losses arising out of the sale of plastics to Russian and Chinese buyers.
- Obtaining an award for a UAE coal trading company in respect of claims under contracts for the sale, purchase and shipment of coal from Indonesia to India (SIAC, Singapore).
- Japanese metals trading company in connection with a long-standing agreement to purchase copper base bars containing precious metals from electronic waste, including allegations of fraud relating to the sampling process (ICC, Tokyo).
- Singapore oil trading company in an arbitration concerning back-to-back trading of biodiesel fuel, including complex fraud allegations relating to shipping documents and requiring expert evidence on trade finance and Chinese customs laws (SIAC, Singapore).
- Multinational insurer in an arbitration involving the alleged phantom shipping of 360mt of tin (SIAC, Singapore).