Agribusiness

How do you protect margin between a grower contract and final settlement?

You buy the crop, then the price moves. If the physical position and the hedge are not valued together, the booked margin is fiction.

June 20264 min read

Why margin evaporates

A buyer contracts grower deliveries and offsets price risk on an exchange. Valued in separate spreadsheets, the physical position and the paper hedge drift apart, and the real margin is unknown until settlement nets advances, shrink, quality discounts, and the closed hedge.

Value the position and the hedge together

Mark-to-market, the current price less the contracted price across the open position, shows unrealised profit and loss daily, not after the fact. The hedging mechanics sit on exchanges like CME. Net realised margin per tonne is what reaches the books once discounts and the hedge are applied.

Where the ERP closes the loop

On Hudace, contracts, physical inventory, and hedge positions share one ledger, so mark-to-market and basis compute continuously instead of in spreadsheets. Xenon AI flags contracts whose basis or quality threatens booked margin and drafts settlement statements from scale-ticket and grade data.

A trader or settlement clerk approves every hedge and settlement. AI never places a trade.

The numbers to watch

Value the physical and the hedge as one position.

Mark-to-market position

(Current price - contracted price) x open quantity. Unrealised P&L, daily.

Net realised margin per tonne

Settlement value less cost and hedge result, per tonne. What hits the books.

Basis exposure

Open position exposed to basis movement. The risk between contract and settlement.

Unsettled contract value

Value of contracts awaiting settlement. The working position to watch.

See protected margin on Hudace

Talk to our team about valuing contracts, inventory, and hedges on one ledger.

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