Energy & biomass
Holding a moisture specification across a rainy season
A repeat schedule agreed in the dry season ran into the wet season. Rather than shipping and hoping, the tolerance and price mechanism were renegotiated before the drift appeared.
- Buyer
- A European industrial boiler operator
- Region
- Northern Europe
- Product
- Palm Kernel Shell
- Basis
- Illustrative scenario
Illustrative scenario. Illustrative scenario. This describes how a mandate of this type is run and what it produces. It is not a record of a completed engagement, and no client is identified. Replace with real engagements — with written client permission — before publishing.
The problem
What the buyer was facing
The buyer agreed a 15% moisture ceiling in August, when open-stored material in the sourcing region routinely sits well below it.
The schedule ran to March. From November, achievable moisture at the same price level rises by several points, and the supplier base had no mechanical drying capacity at the agreed price.
The buyer's boiler feed system tolerated the variation, but their fuel accounting did not — they were paying a fixed price per tonne for progressively less delivered energy.
Covered stockpile, wet season
Approach
What was done, and in what order
- 01
Seasonal risk raised before it materialised
The drift was flagged at programme setup, not at the first out-of-spec lot, giving both sides time to agree a mechanism.
- 02
Tolerance band with a price scale
A defined adjustment per percentage point above the target replaced a binary pass/fail that neither side wanted to enforce.
- 03
Split sourcing across regions
Part of the wet-season volume moved to a region with a different rainfall pattern, reducing the average drift.
- 04
Moisture measured at loading
Readings taken at the yard on the loading day rather than carried over from a production-date certificate.
Outcome
What the buyer ended up with
- The schedule completed without a rejected shipment or a mid-programme renegotiation.
- The buyer's fuel accounting reconciled, because price tracked delivered energy rather than nominal tonnage.
- The mechanism became the template for the following season's programme.
What was tracked
- Target: zero
- Rejected shipments
- Adjusted per point above target
- Price basis
- At loading, not production
- Moisture reading point
- Split across two
- Sourcing regions
Request for quotation
Send us a requirement
A specification, a volume and a destination are enough to start. We come back with what is sourceable, on what terms, and what it depends on.
- Phone
- +62 21 0000 0000
- Office
- Jl. Placeholder No. 00, Jakarta, DKI Jakarta 00000, Indonesia
- Monday – Friday
- 08:00 – 17:00 WIB (UTC+7)
- Saturday
- By appointment
Documentation we coordinate
- Commercial Invoice
- Packing List
- Bill of Lading
- Certificate of Origin
- Certificate of Analysis
- Phytosanitary Certificate
- Fumigation Certificate
- Inspection Report
Document availability depends on product type, origin, destination regulation and commercial agreement. We confirm the applicable document set for your shipment during requirement qualification, before any offer is issued.