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Il 31 gennaio 2024 il Consiglio federale ha adottato ulteriori misure contro la Russia, attuando di fatto il 12° pacchetto di sanzioni dell’Unione europea.

Le nuove disposizioni prevedono, tra le altre, un divieto graduale di acquisto e di importazione di diamanti russi, ulteriori misure a sostegno dell’applicazione dei limiti massimi di prezzo per il petrolio greggio e i prodotti petroliferi russi (oil price cap) e per contrastare la loro elusione, obblighi di notifica e di autorizzazione per la vendita di navi cisterna che possono essere utilizzate per aggirare i massimali di prezzo.

Dal 20 marzo 2024, per gli esportatori vigerà l’obbligo di vietare contrattualmente ai loro partner stabiliti al di fuori dello SEE o di un Paese partner (Australia, Canada, Corea del Sud, Giappone, Norvegia, Nuova Zelanda, Regno Unito e Stati Uniti) la riesportazione dei beni elencati negli allegati 3 e 19 dell’Ordinanza che istituisce provvedimenti in relazione alla situazione in Ucraina e di beni ad alta priorità elencati nell’allegato 31 verso la Russia o per l’uso in Russia. Devono essere altresì previste contrattualmente misure correttive adeguate per i casi di violazioni. Tali violazioni devono essere notificate immediatamente alla SECO. L’obbligo non si applica agli affari concordati contrattualmente prima del 1° febbraio 2024 ed eseguiti entro il 20 dicembre 2024 o i cui contratti sono scaduti, a seconda dell’evento che si verifica per primo.

L’Ordinanza che istituisce provvedimenti in relazione alla situazione in Ucraina aggiornata al 1° febbraio 2024 può essere consultata qui.

La SECO ha aggiornato anche il suo documento interpretativo delle sanzioni con particolare riferimento (ma non limitatamente) a:

• rispetto dell’art. 12b cpv 4 lett. b e cpv. 5 (petrolio greggio e prodotti petroliferi): la SECO fa riferimento alle FAQ della Commissione UE sull’attuazione dei regolamenti del Consiglio dell’UE 269/2014 e 833/2014, in particolare alle spiegazioni contenute nel capitolo E “Energy”, punto 5 “Oil Price Cap”, sezione 7 “Attestations, recordkeeping and itemised ancillary costs”. Queste spiegazioni indicano quali informazioni e documenti sono adatti per le prove corrispondenti;
• prova attestante il Paese di origine terza dei beni siderurgici di cui all’allegato 17 impiegati come fattori produttivi (art. 14a): dal 1° marzo 2024, tale prova va indicata come documento (codice documento Y824) nella rubrica “Documenti” della dichiarazione doganale. Il documento deve essere presentato su richiesta all’Ufficio federale della dogana e della sicurezza dei confini (UDSC) insieme agli altri documenti doganali di accompagnamento.

Il documento interpretativo della SECO (FAQ) può essere consultato qui.

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At the Ordinary General Meeting held on December 20, 2023, the LCTA Executive Board proposed Simone Knobloch, COO of Valcambi SA, Alessandro Odoni, Finance Director of Flame SA and Marco Passalia, Partner of Enet Energy SA be elected as new Executive Board Members. Monica Zurfluh, who officially took office beginning of November, was introduced as new Secretary General. 

The Ordinary General Meeting held in December 2023 elected new Board members in accordance with the Executive Board’s proposal: Simone Knobloch, COO of Valcambi and Alessandro Odoni, Finance Director of Flame SA.  

Michael Mesaric, CEO of Valcambi SA, and Riccardo Talenti, Charter & Operations Manager at Flame SA had previously announced decision to resign from the Executive Board in connection with the General Meeting. Both had been active members of the Executive Board since LCTA’s formation, and the Executive Board recognized them for their contributions to shaping the Association and supporting its interests. 

Marco Passalia, Partner of Enet Energy SA, opted to step down as Secretary General and relinquish operational responsibilities. Recognizing Marco Passalia’s critical role as co-initiator and engine of the Association, the Executive Board proposed he join the Board as 14th member in derogation from the statutes (the temporary increase in the number of Board Members will be reduced again to 13 during 2024 following the complete integration of Credit Suisse into UBS).  

Marco Passalia received special distinction for his achievements since the Associations’ inception in 2010. His lobbying activities at the cantonal and federal levels as well as the organization of several international events and conferences have been critical to the Ticino hub’s positioning and consolidation as Switzerland’s third-largest commodity trading center after Geneva and Zurich, while the launch of both the CAS in Commodity Professional in collaboration with the Zug Commodity Association (ZCA) and the Hochschule Luzern, and the most recent Certified Commodity Trading Specialist training in collaboration with Alma Impact as well as numerous short-term courses contributed to the members’ skills and knowledge, ultimately attracting and retaining talents. 

The General Meeting welcomed Monica Zurfluh, Head of International Trade of the Ticino Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Cc-Ti), as the new Secretary General of LCTA. Monica Zurfluh officially took up her new function on November 1st, 2023. 

As of the end of 2023, LCTA counted 48 active members. 

On Friday November 24, 2023, at the Hotel Splendide Royal in Lugano, the Lugano Commodity Trading Association and Alma Impact AG held an event to discuss sustainability as a critical issue to the future of the Commodity Trading Sector. More precisely, to discuss the opportunities and the challenges that will arise in the coming years and the foreseeable impact on the demand and the operations, in the light of the “Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism” law, a tax on imported carbon intensive products (cement, iron, steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen) recently introduced by European Union to avoid carbon leakage.

A heartfelt thanks goes to the speakers: Dominique Bruggmann from E&Y, Rumi Jahani from CarbonChain, and Simone Knobloch from Valcambi and to the moderator of the roundtable, the journalist Dimitri Loringett. This conference was also the last module of the ‘Certified Commodity Trading Specialist’ course recognized by the SAQ Swiss Association for Quality.

Press review

Materie prime, ecco la tassa UE per ridurre le emissioni (Corriere del Ticino – November 25, 2023)

CCTS program

Certified Commodity Trading Specialist (CCTS) – LCTA (2023 edition)

2024 dates and program to come soon.

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On 23-24 June 2022, after the forced hiatus due to the pandemic, the Global Commodities Conference 2022 took place at the LAC in Lugano (Lugano Arte e Cultura). This is an international event organised by the Lugano Commodity Trading Association (LCTA) and supported by the following sponsors: Allianz, Banca Stato, Chamber of Commerce of the Canton of Ticino, Coeclerici, EY, Flame, HFW, Propeller Club – Port of Lugano, Swiss Trading and Shipping Association (STSA), Ticino Welcome and Zug Commodities Association (ZCA).

The event, which was attended by more than 250 guests, confirmed itself as one of the leading industry meetings with the participation of international trade experts, commodity traders, banking institutions and various other service providers. It is important to note that due to the pandemic, it was decided to invite above all local speakers with ties to Swiss trading hubs.

At the opening evening on 23 June, LCTA Vice President Roberto Grassi interviewed the well-known journalist Antonio Caprarica. With a speech entitled ‘Commodity Trading – the challenging geopolitical landscape’, the special guest stimulated the audience’s interest by referring to his diverse and enriching experiences in journalism in various parts of the world.

On 24 June, on the other hand, the day was opened by Matthew Bryza, US Ambassador, who gave his views on the current geopolitical situation with a focus on the conflict in Ukraine.

The day was then divided into three parts.

The first, entitled “Shipping and Logistic: Are we still sailing stormy waters?”; the moderator Michel’Angelo Piccinini (President, Propeller Club Port of Lugano) focused attention on the current dynamics of shipping after the difficult years of the pandemic, which have led to a limited supply of ships, an excessive increase in maritime freight rates, reduced activity of shipyards, and in general management difficulties related to covid19.

Among the speakers were:

Harris Antoniou, Founder & Managing Director, Neptune Maritime Leasing Ltd

Gemma Carbone, Business Development Executive, Ifchor

Andrea Organista D’Amato, Principal & Chartering Manager, Armator Shipping

In the second, ‘Compliance and sustainability in war and resource shortage times’, the focus was on the current geopolitical situation in order to understand the functioning of various trading and financial activities in this complex and volatile environment characterised by international sanctions.

Speakers included:

Sarah Hunt, Partner, HFW

Taylor Konkin, Head of Commodity Trading Audit EY Geneva

Deia Markova, Head of Trade Commodity Finance, SGCIB

Thomas Patrick, CFO, DITH.

This panel was moderated by Pietro Poretti, Director Economic Development Division, City of Lugano, who captured the most relevant and interesting aspects.

Finally, with the third panel, entitled ‘Commodities shortage and global economy’, the conference took a more global slant on the supply of raw materials.

Speakers included:

Marco Arrighini, Head of Southern Region, Allianz Trade Switzerland

Matija Barudzija, CEO, ENET Energy SA

Marco Galimberti, CEO, DP Trade SA

James May, Director Strategy, DITH

The panel was expertly moderated by Florence Schurch, Secretary General, STSA

With around 250 participants over the two days and with several outstanding speakers and moderators, the event was stimulating and offered participants excellent opportunities to exchange, compare and network expertise.

Given the appreciation of GCC 2022, the organisers are already thinking about the next edition.