Notice. Educational and marketing content only. FG Capital Advisors provides advisory and structuring services and may act as advisor and placement agent through regulated partners. We are not a bank, broker dealer, or direct lender. Any transaction that involves securities or credit depends on KYC and AML checks, sanctions screening, credit and legal review, lender appetite, and definitive documentation with regulated entities.
Commodity Borrowing Base And Revolving Credit Facility Advisor
We help commodity traders, importers, and producers structure and secure borrowing base and revolving credit facilities backed by inventory, receivables, and in transit goods. The goal is straightforward working capital that tracks your trade cycle, is grounded in collateral quality, and can scale with volume rather than one off transaction approvals.
Share your business model, main flows, and current bank lines. We respond with a view on borrowing base options, realistic advance rates, likely lender types, and how a structured revolver can sit alongside your existing trade and inventory finance.
Request A Borrowing Base ProposalOn This Page
Who This Commodity Borrowing Base Advisory Service Is For
Target Client Profile
- Physical commodity traders handling flows in energy, metals, agri, or soft commodities with recurring trade patterns and identifiable counterparties.
- Importers, exporters, and processors that hold inventory through the supply chain and sell on short dated terms to a diversified buyer base.
- Producers and distributors that have outgrown simple transactional LCs or prepayment deals and need scalable, committed working capital lines.
- Corporate groups and platforms looking to consolidate multiple bilateral trade lines into a single secured borrowing base or club RCF.
Situations That Sit Outside This Service
- Pure paper or derivatives trading with no underlying physical flows or inventory.
- Early stage ventures with no audited financials, no proven turnover, and no basic risk controls around credit, liquidity, and operations.
- Requests for unsecured lines with no collateral, no sponsor support, and no credible balance sheet.
- Speculative structures that try to hide true risk, double finance collateral, or avoid clear title and control over goods and receivables.
What FG Capital Advisors Does On Commodity Borrowing Base And RCFs
Structuring, Borrowing Base Design, And Term Sheets
- Map your trade flows, counterparty mix, and collateral pool across inventory, in transit goods, receivables, and occasionally pre sold production.
- Design borrowing base formulas, advance rates, and concentration limits that reflect product liquidity, counterparty risk, and price volatility.
- Draft or refine term sheets covering facility type, tenor, availability periods, collateral scope, covenants, reserves, reporting, and events of default.
- Align borrowing base mechanics with your systems and reporting so lender requirements can be met without paralysing day to day operations.
Lender Engagement, Club Formation, And Amendments
- Identify banks and private credit providers with appetite for commodity borrowers in your region and sector at the ticket sizes you need.
- Prepare lender materials that present flows, risk management, hedging, collateral, and performance clearly from a credit point of view.
- Support negotiations on pricing, advance rates, security, and control structures such as warehouse control, collateral managers, or pledges.
- Coordinate club formation, allocation, and amendments over time as facility size, mix of lenders, or collateral pools change.
Facility Types And Structures We Work On
Borrowing Base Revolvers And RCFs
- Committed multi purpose borrowing base facilities that fund eligible inventory and receivables under a single umbrella, with regular redetermination.
- Bilateral and club RCFs with shared collateral pools and aligned documentation across banks and private credit funds.
- Structures that sit alongside LCs, guarantees, and transactional trade lines while sharing information and collateral where appropriate.
Inventory, Pre Export, And Receivable Focused Lines
- Inventory backed lines supported by warehouse receipts, stock reports, and control arrangements with third party operators or collateral managers.
- Pre export and prepayment structures where future receivables from off takers or buyers underpin the facility under clear assignment terms.
- Receivables backed lines within the borrowing base, with eligibility criteria on tenor, concentration, dispute status, and credit quality.
Hybrid And Complementary Structures
- Combination of borrowing base RCFs with transactional LC lines, trade loans, or repos to support specific flows or seasonal build ups.
- Structures that accommodate hedging, margin calls, and basis risk between physical books and derivatives.
- Amendments and extensions when facilities need to grow, bring in new collateral pools, or respond to changes in commodity cycles.
Where We Do Not Focus
- Purely unsecured overdrafts or corporate revolvers with no link to commodity flows or collateral.
- Facilities that seek to re use the same collateral across several lenders without clear controls and intercreditor arrangements.
- Structures with opaque SPVs, limited transparency, or circular flows that obscure the true source of repayment.
Commodity Borrowing Base Advisory Engagement Process
| Stage 1: Diagnostic And Objectives | We review your business model, trade flows, historical performance, and current bank lines. Together we define what the facility should achieve in terms of size, tenor, collateral mix, and lender base, and whether the route is a new facility, a refinance, or a consolidation of existing lines. |
| Stage 2: Mandate, Structure Outline, And Data Request | Once direction is clear, we agree a mandate, work scope, fee structure, and timetable with you and, where applicable, our regulated partners. We then issue a targeted data request covering financials, collateral, ageing reports, systems, and legal structures. |
| Stage 3: Borrowing Base Design And Term Sheet Draft | We design the borrowing base, advance rates, eligibility criteria, reserves, and reporting framework, and map this into a term sheet. The structure is tested against historic and projected data so it works for both your working capital needs and lender risk limits. |
| Stage 4: Lender Outreach And Feedback | Through regulated partners we approach selected banks and funds with the facility outline, data, and term sheet. We collect feedback on pricing, collateral, structure, and monitoring expectations, then refine the package where this improves bankability without breaking the business case. |
| Stage 5: Documentation, Conditions, And Controls | We support commercial points in facility, security, and intercreditor documents, making sure that borrowing base mechanics, events of default, and reporting obligations stay consistent with what was agreed. Collateral control and monitoring arrangements are clarified so there are no surprises post close. |
| Stage 6: Closing And Ongoing Amendments | We assist with conditions precedent, closing checklists, and funds flow. After close, we can help manage amendments, accordion options, and re determinations as your collateral base, turnover, or lender group evolves. |
Timelines depend on borrower readiness, quality of data, and the number and type of lenders involved. Clean, well controlled platforms tend to move faster than complex groups with fragmented systems and collateral reporting.
Borrowing Base Readiness And Information Requirements
Baseline Readiness
- Established trading or producing activity with verifiable turnover, audited financial statements, and basic treasury and risk controls.
- Clear contracts with suppliers and buyers, repeat counterparties where possible, and defined payment terms rather than informal arrangements.
- Systems and processes capable of producing regular inventory and receivables reports by product, counterparty, and ageing.
- Governance and compliance standards that can withstand lender KYC, sanctions, and AML scrutiny across all relevant jurisdictions.
Core Information Package
- Group structure charts, entity list, and details of shareholding, management, and key decision makers.
- Historical financials, management accounts, and liquidity information, including existing facilities, covenants, and security granted.
- Inventory and receivables reports, concentration by buyer, supplier, and region, and details of any collateral management or warehouse arrangements.
- Risk management, hedging, and credit policies, together with compliance, legal, and ESG information that lenders will test during diligence.
Indicative Facility Parameters
| Typical Facility Size | Most mandates involve secured borrowing base and RCF commitments from around 20 million dollars into the several hundred million range. Smaller facilities are considered where the structure and reporting still justify a borrowing base approach. |
| Borrower Types | Independent trading houses, regional commodity merchants, integrated producers and marketers, and corporate groups with substantial import, export, or processing flows. |
| Collateral And Advance Rates | Eligible collateral usually includes inventory, in transit goods, and receivables, with advance rates set by product, location, credit quality, and volatility. Haircuts, reserves, and concentration limits are calibrated case by case. |
| Tenor And Structure | Facilities are often structured as one to three year committed revolvers, with options for extension and periodic re determination of borrowing base parameters and lender commitments. |
| Lenders | International and regional banks, specialist trade finance banks, and private credit or structured trade funds that understand collateral based working capital structures. |
| Fee Approach | Our compensation normally combines a fixed or staged work fee for structuring and lender engagement with a success based fee linked to committed or drawn facility amounts when we work with regulated partners on placement. Exact terms are agreed at mandate stage. |
If you are running a commodity trading, importing, or producing business and want to move from fragmented trade lines to a structured borrowing base or revolving facility, send us an overview of your flows, counterparties, and current bank lines. We will respond with a view on lender appetite, realistic facility ranges, and a proposed advisory and placement mandate with our regulated partners.
Request A Borrowing Base ProposalFAQ
What is the difference between a simple RCF and a borrowing base facility?
A simple RCF is usually sized on overall credit strength and may have only light asset linkage. A borrowing base facility is sized and monitored against specific collateral pools such as inventory and receivables, with regular reporting, eligibility criteria, and advance rates that change with the collateral.
Can smaller commodity firms access borrowing base structures?
Some smaller firms can, but lenders expect a minimum level of systems, reporting, and governance. Where size or controls are not yet there, we may recommend steps to build toward a borrowing base facility rather than forcing a structure that banks will reject.
Do you only advise or also help arrange the facility?
We advise on structure, borrowing base design, and term sheets. Where agreed, we also support lender outreach and facility placement through regulated partners. In that case, our mandate covers both structure and sourcing of the lender group.
How long does it take to close a borrowing base or RCF?
Timelines vary. For well prepared borrowers with decent data and engaged banks, a process can move from mandate to signing within a few months. Complex groups, new markets, or stressed situations take longer because lenders need more diligence and internal approvals.
Can you help if our existing facility is under pressure?
Often yes. We review why the current structure is under strain, how collateral and performance have evolved, and what lenders are asking for. If there is a credible path to a reset or refinance, we can help shape a proposal that gives lenders comfort while keeping the business running.
Disclosures. FG Capital Advisors provides advisory, structuring, and arranging services through regulated partners. Nothing on this page is an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities or to enter into any lending transaction. Any engagement is subject to internal approval, conflict checks, KYC and AML and sanctions screening where required, independent legal and tax advice on your side, and the terms of a formal mandate, term sheet, and final transaction documentation.
