Use Case 6

Import/Export Finance for Commodities & Goods

Global trade often requires exporters to fund production, shipping, and customs before any buyer payment arrives, while importers need time to sell inventory after delivery. This creates a working capital gap that traditional finance fills with letters of credit, guarantees, or short-term loans.

SukukFi can finance the full end-to-end trade cycle: sourcing goods, paying suppliers, covering freight and insurance, and storing inventory within bonded warehouses until final distribution. This supports both exporters and importers with predictable funding tied directly to underlying goods and receivables.

How SukukFi Enables End-to-End Trade Finance

• Supplier funding: Upfront payments are made to producers to secure inventory and manufacturing capacity.
• Trade logistics: Shipping, customs, and insurance costs are funded to keep goods moving across borders.
• Bonded warehousing: Inventory can be stored under customs control, deferring duties and VAT until release.
• Distribution finance: Capital is repaid as goods are sold to end customers, aligning cash flow to sales.

Shariah-Based Structuring

• Mudarabah: Capital providers fund trade activity while operating partners manage procurement and logistics, sharing profits by agreed ratios.
• Murabaha: SukukFi purchases goods and resells to the business at a disclosed markup, payable over time.
• Musharakah: Joint participation in trade inventory with shared risk and profit from actual sales.

Sharia conclusion: Funding remains asset backed and tied to real trade flows, avoiding riba by linking returns to underlying goods, services, and sales performance.

Comparison to Traditional Trade Finance

• Letters of credit: Conventional LCs rely on bank guarantees and interest-bearing credit, while SukukFi structures funding through asset based trade transactions.
• Bank guarantees: Traditional guarantees charge fees for credit risk coverage; SukukFi allocates capital directly to goods and logistics with transparent profit sharing.
• Working capital loans: Interest-based facilities monetize time value of money, whereas SukukFi uses Murabaha or Musharakah to link returns to real trade assets.
• Invoice discounting: Conventional finance advances cash at a discount; SukukFi funds receivables via asset backed structures with disclosed profit margins.