Putting a dramatic end to global food market fluctuations in recent years, Phoenix Commodities Group - global value chain manager of commodities in the food staples and natural resource industries - has marked its brand name on the global food market with incredible numbers. The firm supplies 8.5 million tonnes of foods, serves more than 1,100 customers in more than 55 countries, and grosses more than US$1.2 billion of revenue each year.
Adding class to food
Phoenix Commodities headquartered in Dubai was established in 1999. After nearly 17 years of operation, through its subsidiaries, affiliates and representative offices, Phoenix has marked its presence in the world map where it has a solid foothold in more than 25 countries, including Vietnam. Originally, founded with the goal of becoming a key player in the global rice business, Phoenix Commodities has grown far beyond this initial focal point over the years to become entergrated commodities value chains manager.
Currently, Phoenix Commodities is a market leader with its main product portfolios, including rice and sugar, cereals (maize, green beans, flour), special crops, and natural resources (coal, iron, etc.). With its unique business aptitudes, Phoenix Commodities has elevated business performances of the above-mentioned products into fully commercial product value chains.
By definition, value chain is an interconnected process of transportation and procurement of goods and later integration of such stages as distribution to consumers or material management. Hence, Phoenix Commodities delicately transformed itself into a challenging but extremely prospective supply chain manager. Phoenix has engaged in almost all activities, from procurement, processing, management and logistics to distribution channel to form a value chain inside the company.
Specifically, as for rice - a key product of the group, Phoenix is always engrossed in exploring and creating top-class rice branches. Even Phoenix Commodities’s leaders also personally go to different famous rice areas (including Vietnam) in search of rice grain that enraptures millions of consumers. Besides rice, grains and specialty crops, natural resources are great prides of Phoenix Commodities. With this bold step, Phoenix Commodities has globally demonstrated its business capacity when it optimally exploits features of value chains, reduces production costs, cut inventories, improves the accuracy of production forecasts, enhances order supply cycles, and increase net revenue. And, of course, those important foundations have become the podium of glory and raise the position of Phoenix Commodities in global commodities market.
Business philosophy of “shinning star”
Although it has become one of three largest food traders in the world, its respectful values of Phoenix Commodities’s business philosophy are transparency, integrity, creativity, responsibility and risk management. The group always pushes up the corporate growth by utilising its high-quality human resources, constantly building faithful relationships with customers, expanding supply chains, making it the partner choice for all its stakeholders.
Without doubt, the current stature of Phoenix Commodities is not only the strength of a brand and business scale but also a symbol in business and a symbol of smart business power with humble attitude.
As for Vietnam, Phoenix Commodities Chief Representative in Vietnam, Arup Kumar Gupta, said, “Phoenix Commodities which has a good foodhold in agri commodity trade for more than 15 years, do ventured with Vietnam Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2) and Auro Capital established VAP Food Co., Ltd (Moc Hoa district, Long An province), in 2011 with an initial capital of US$15 million, a pioneering producer of parboiled rice in Vietnam. Rice trading volume worldwide is about 35 - 36 million tonnes a year and parboiled rice makes up to 5 - 6 million tonnes of this. However, parboiled rice supply comes mainly from Thailand and India having a share of 70 per cent of overall volume.” Ideally, Vietnam has equal, if not more advantages than these two originals in parboiled rice export as Vietnamese rice quality is better with lots of grades plus infrastructure serving export activities has improved after years of trade. Vietnamese rice price may not be lower but delivery capacity is stable which is quite different with “unstable” export policy of India. As compared to Thailand, Vietnam rice pricing is more competitive.
In the coming time, Phoenix Commodities will locate its factories in Vietnam because the group highly values rice quality in the country and Vietnamese people are industrious. Giving his opinions to Vietnam’s sustainable agricultural development, Arup added, “Vietnam has strong advantages in rice and it should seek to adjust prices reasonably, control quality, upgrade agricultural infrastructure and have good marketing. I also highly value other agricultural products of Vietnam like coffee, tea and black pepper. Vietnam needs to have more policies in support of farmers and stakeholders”.
Nguyen Viet Hung
Vietnamese
