Are spot buys of raw materials possible?
We often get requests like “I need to buy ….. with delivery within two weeks”. These requests are almost never successful. The reasons given above should make this clear. Buyers that are not familiar with the Russian market are usually unwilling or unable to meet Russian conditions, even if spot supplies are available (as they often are). Therefore, the spot buys normally go to the companies who are already buying in significant quantities from Russia and who have developed their own solutions to these issues. (And these companies, of course, do not need to ask us.) Of course, there are always exceptions. But if a Russian product is available immediately, and shippable immediately, then the price is likely to be much closer to the ‘world price’.
