Product Catalog

Configure any product, hedge it the same day

A 4-step wizard that models any physical product your desk trades. Commercial quantity becomes contained metal, then hedgeable metal MT, automatically. Clone one of 27 worked examples or build yours from scratch.

By NovaEx Product
4
Wizard steps
4
Hedge methods
27
Worked examples
LME+MCX
Exchange aligned
Why it matters

Three outcomes traders and CFOs care about

The catalog turns informal, tribal hedging knowledge into shared, audit-ready infrastructure.

Eliminate spreadsheet VLOOKUPs

Hedge derivations live in shared, versioned configuration, not someone's Excel tab. One broken formula used to break the whole book. Now the book rebuilds itself.

Audit-ready derivation

Every catalog change is versioned with user, timestamp, and reason. Historical trade derivations replay against the exact catalog state they booked with. No reconstruction required.

Reuse rules across every trade

Configure any product once. The same conversion applies across every counterparty, contract, and shipment. No re-entering metal content per dealer or assay per shipment.

The workflow

Configure any product in four steps

The same wizard handles refined metal, concentrate, scrap, and value-added products. Your commodity and family drive the rest. Figures default to industry typicals and override per shipment.

1

Classification

Pick the commodity, family, form, and grade. The form list filters by family. Scrap surfaces Zorba, Twitch, Tense. VAP surfaces Cable, Coil, Busbar.

2

Hedge method

Options filter by family. Concentrate locks to Assay × Payable. Refined Metal offers Direct MT. Scrap defaults to Metal Content %.

3

UOM & rounding

UOMs filter by family plus method. Wet MT prompts for moisture. Metal per unit asks for MT per unit. Rounding defaults to down so you never over-hedge.

4

Review & save

Enter a sample quantity. Watch the derivation compute in real time. Save to catalog when the numbers check out.

What the wizard produces

The three-layer derivation

Every trade flows through the same automatic math. Commercial quantity becomes contained metal. Contained metal becomes hedgeable metal. Your hedge desk gets a number it can act on.

Commercial qty

100 MT

Example: Zorba scrap as invoiced

Contained metal

45 MT

× 45% Al content (industry typical)

Hedgeable metal

45 MT

→ LME Aluminium hedge

100 MT Zorba × 45% metal content = 45 MT Al hedgeable. The catalog stores the 45% default per product; each shipment overrides at position entry.
Four families, one model

Every physical product fits one of four families

Each family has a default hedge method tailored to how the product moves through the trade. Products can override when the physics demand it. Zamak alloy ingot, for example, lives in VAP with metal content %, not in Refined Metal with Direct MT.

Four hedge methods

Precise formulas, not heuristics

Each method precisely defines how commercial quantity maps to hedgeable metal MT. Choose the one that matches how the product is actually invoiced.

Direct MT hedge

1:1 weight

Hedgeable MT = Qty × UOM factor

Commercial weight equals base metal. The hedgeable figure is the commercial weight converted to MT.

Typical use: Refined metals. Ingots, cathodes, billets, wire rod sold by weight.

Metal content %

Gross × MC%

Hedgeable MT = Qty × UOM factor × Metal content %

A known fraction of the gross weight is base metal. Hedge the physical exposure only.

Typical use: Scrap (zorba, twitch, tense, dross) and alloy VAP with specified metal content.

Assay × payable %

DMT × A% × P%

Hedgeable MT = DMT × Assay % × Payable %

Assay % is the metal grade of the ore. Payable % is the fraction the smelter pays for. Both deductions apply.

Typical use: Concentrate contracts. Copper, zinc, lead, nickel.

Metal per unit

Qty × MT/unit

Hedgeable MT = Qty × Metal per unit

Sold by non-weight unit. Each unit carries a fixed metal load from the technical data sheet.

Typical use: Cable (MT/KM), conductor (MT/m), coils by count, scrap bundles by piece.

Spreadsheets vs Product Catalog

The before-and-after

Spreadsheets today
  • ×Hedge ratios in a VLOOKUP somewhere on the shared drive
  • ×Every new product needs a new tab
  • ×Assay × Payable kept in a separate Excel model by the concentrate desk
  • ×Zamak ingot hedged as pure zinc. 4% over-hedged every shipment
  • ×Zorba hedged at 100%. Over-hedged by 120%
  • ×Galvanised coil hedged at gross weight. Over-hedged 30×
  • ×No audit trail when numbers change
With NovaEx Product Catalog
  • Hedge rules configured once, used across every trade
  • 4-step wizard configures any product. 27 worked examples ship as starters
  • Assay × Payable built into the catalog's concentrate family
  • The Zamak worked example is configured at 95.8% Zn metal content, cloneable in one click
  • Zorba defaults to 45%. Each shipment overrides from the melt report
  • Galvanised coil defaults to 3% Zn coating. Coating class overrides per SKU
  • Every change versioned with user, time, reason
Units and precision

Supported UOMs and rounding rules

Commercial quantity arrives in many units. The catalog handles conversion consistently and deterministically.

Weight-based units

MT
Metric tonne. Global standard for base metals.
KG
Kilogram. Smaller lots and per-kg pricing.
LB
Pound. North American and Middle Eastern contracts.
DMT
Dry metric tonne. Concentrate pricing standard.
Wet MT
Physical as-received with moisture. Auto-converts to DMT.

Count, length, and area

KM
Kilometre. Cable and conductor by length.
Meter
Linear metre. Strip, foil, specialty conductor.
SQM
Square metre. Sheet and foil by area.
Piece / Bundle / Drum
Count with a known metal-per-unit load.
Coil / Reel / Container
Packed units with datasheet loading.

Rounding rules for lot conversion

Round down (default)

Never over-hedge. Any fractional lot rounds to the nearest whole lot below. Standard for conservative hedge desks.

Round nearest

Closest whole lot. Rounds up from .5 or above. Appropriate for desks that balance over and under-hedge symmetrically.

Round up

Always cover. Any fraction rounds to the next whole lot above. Used where under-hedging is the bigger risk.

See the Product Catalog in motion

Book a live walkthrough. We'll configure a product from your own contract book, derive the hedge, and show how it flows to position management and MTM.

Frequently asked

Questions the catalog needs to answer

Frequently Asked Questions