Frequently Asked Questions
Questions buyers, suppliers, and partners ask us
Direct answers on how Quantara trades, settles, and delivers physical commodities across grains, fertilizers, metals, and energy.
What is Quantara Commodities Group?
Quantara is an AI-enabled commodity trading firm headquartered in London, UK, with operations in Dubai, UAE. It trades physical commodities across four verticals: grains and oilseeds, fertilizers, metals and minerals, and energy. The company combines direct producer sourcing with AI-driven supply intelligence, pricing analytics, logistics monitoring, and automated execution.
Is Quantara a broker?
No. Quantara operates as a principal trading firm and direct sourcing partner. It purchases from producers and manufacturers and sells to end-buyers. It does not act as an intermediary or broker.
What commodities does Quantara trade?
Grains and oilseeds (wheat, corn, barley, soybeans, sunflower), fertilizers (urea, DAP, MAP, MOP, NPK, sulphur), metals and minerals (copper cathodes, aluminium ingots, zinc, steel billets), and energy (coal, EN590 diesel, Jet A-1, crude oil, LNG).
How fast can Quantara execute a trade?
Quantara targets 24 hours from qualified inquiry to indicative term sheet, and 30 days from term sheet to first cargo delivery. Actual timelines depend on commodity, origin, destination, and payment instrument.
What payment instruments does Quantara accept?
Documentary letter of credit (LC) at sight, deferred LC, standby letter of credit (SBLC), cash against documents (CAD), and telegraphic transfer (T/T) for pre-qualified counterparties.
What delivery terms does Quantara offer?
FOB (Free on Board), CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight), and CFR (Cost and Freight). Terms are adapted per deal based on buyer preference and logistics efficiency.
Where is Quantara based?
London, United Kingdom (headquarters) and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (operations and MENA coverage).
Who founded Quantara?
Quantara was founded by Vasile Granaci and Pavel Zemlianoi, who bring 30+ years of combined professional experience across institutional finance (Bloomberg), enterprise technology (ByteDance, Vonage, MessageBird), counterparty risk analysis (Stroygazmontazh), and data architecture (SoDa).
What is AI-driven commodity trading?
AI-driven commodity trading uses artificial intelligence to automate and accelerate supply monitoring, price benchmarking, counterparty due diligence, documentation generation, sanctions screening, and logistics routing. It allows smaller, more agile desks to out-execute legacy organisations that rely on manual processes.
How does Quantara handle Strait of Hormuz disruption?
Quantara maintains pre-cleared alternative origins and routing for every commodity. For energy and fertilizers typically transiting Hormuz, this means Atlantic Basin, Mediterranean, and North African supply lines that bypass the Arabian Gulf entirely. Every quote includes a contingency route.
Does Quantara trade with sanctioned jurisdictions?
No. Every trade is screened against UK, EU, US (OFAC), and UN sanctions frameworks before contract execution. Continuous monitoring is applied throughout the trade lifecycle.
What risks does Quantara reduce?
Counterparty risk (automated KYC/AML screening), supply disruption risk (pre-cleared alternative origins), pricing risk (transparent benchmarking against CBOT, LME, Argus, Platts), documentation risk (AI-generated drafts with human verification), and logistics risk (real-time vessel tracking with dynamic rerouting).
Still have questions?
Get a response within 24 hours from our commercial team in London or Dubai.