How to verify a copper buyer before you send an offer

Sellers know this pattern well: an urgent enquiry, a request for your full offer and documents, and then silence. Some of those "buyers" are collecting offers to resell. Some are brokers with no buyer. A few are real. Here is how to find the few.

Three questions first

1. "What is your company's name and registration number?" A real buyer answers straight away and sends a website and a registration you can check. "We represent several buyers; we will reveal after NCNDA" means there is no buyer yet.

2. "What do you do with copper?" A factory that melts cathode into rod or tube, a smelter that needs concentrate, a trader with a known book: each can explain its use, its usual volumes and its usual delivery point. Vague answers suggest a broker.

3. "Can we have a video call this week?" Real buyers make time for real supply. People who refuse every call are usually hiding a chain.

Then check

• The registry. Look up the company yourself and check that the person is a director or has written authority.
• The fit. A buyer asking for 5,000 MT a month should be a company that plausibly consumes or trades that much.
• The payment route. Ask how they intend to pay and through which bank. A real buyer has an answer. See payment terms.
• The terms. "CIF China, 100% payment after inspection at destination" is not a buyer's normal procedure. It is a buyer who has never closed.

What a real buyer looks like

From our own conversations: one of the most credible buyers we met was a Turkish semi-products maker, in business for decades, who melts cathode in house. He wanted 25 MT truckloads, had clear views on origin, and asked precise questions about delivery. Real buyers tend to be specific, modest about volumes, and quick to talk.

Protect your documents

Don't send a full offer with producer details and warehouse receipts to someone you haven't checked. Send a short indicative offer first, and share details step by step as the buyer proves who they are.