What is it?
The on-line exchange managed by the BMTI was created to make buying and selling offers meet, in relation to agricultural, food and fish products, via a continuous platform which reflects market dynamics and which determines prices in real-time.
This mechanism enables on-line deals to be struck between vying parties which are compatible in terms of:
A "one to many" approach is adopted for auction. With this system the dealer making the market offer can set up a deal with a theoretically unlimited number of other parties.
How does it work?
In the system the market proposals can be entered in two ways: "ready delivery" and "delayed delivery". During the negotiating stage, the parties may intervene on the price of their offers only in order to improve them; i.e. only in such a way as to make their offer or request more advantageous for the other potential parties, though retaining their right to cancel the offer at any time. The first counter-offer matching the price of the main offer wins the auction for the whole amount offered or for a portion of it (in the latter case, the auction proceeds by shifting the residual quantity). The on-line markets are disciplined by specific (Special Produce Regulations" and by the "General Dispositions for Dealing on BMTI".
What do "ready delivery" or "delivery delayed" mean?
In "ready delivery" deals the goods are taken to be at the disposal of the buyer from the day following the striking of the contract (eight-day limit). In "delayed delivery" deals the delivery times of the goods are not different from ready delivery ones; the delivery however does change, which are multiple and periodic as agreed by the parties.
What do Product Special Regulations and General Dispositions for dealing on BMTI mean?
Product special regulations are adopted according to the indication of the Sector Committee and the National Deputation, and discipline the goods characteristics of the product, while the General Dispositions for Dealing on the BMTI discipline the contractual fulfilment modes (payment, delivery/collection of goods, etc) and any other event or deed subsequent to the conclusion of the contract which might impact on the completion of the deal.
What does Registered Dealer (SAI) mean?
The term SAI relates to a Registered Dealer who enjoys direct access to the BMTI online system. It is a professional figure of novel conception on the national agricultural scene, instituted in pursuance of Ministerial Decree of April 6th 2006 by the Ministry for Agricultural Policy. The SAI deals exclusively on the BMTI on-line Exchange. In particular, his job is to collect and manage on-line orders on his own behalf or on behalf of Qualified Operator.
What does Qualified Operator mean?
A qualified operator uses a market software through which he can monitor market operations on the platform and can manage his relationship with the Registered Dealer with whom he will formulate his market proposals.
How do they get information?
Both qualified operators and SAIs can use an email system which enables them to interact directly with one another and be informed on the deals struck on the platform. Furthermore they can both benefit from price and market communication services via email and sms text messaging services.
How do I access the system?
With a user name and password issued when signing up/on accreditation. Both the codes are entered in the block on the BMTI site homepage, located on the right of the window containing the market offers.
Which products can be dealt in?
Go to the active markets page to see what can be dealt with on the BMTI exchange.
How to enrol?
To start up enrolment or accreditation, respectively for the SAI and the Qualified Operator, the procedure is very simple: fill in the form (there are two, one for SAIs and the other for Operators) on the BMTI portal, by opening the dedicated page: "Enrolment in the Market". The forms are to be filled out in each field and the user name (which together with the password forms the set of identifying data for access to the system) chosen. Indicate the markets of interest and select the release clause for treatment of personal data. For details on procedures see the dedicated pages: Enrolment Procedures and Accreditation Procedures.
Who can become a Registered Dealer (SAI)?
To enrol as a SAI the requisites indicated in the dedicated page have to be met: Registered Dealer.
Who can become a Qualified Operator?
To enrol as a qualified operator check on credentials as indicated in the page dedicated to Qualified Operator. In general terms, all professional operators in the agricultural, food and fish sector can gain accreditation, with enrolment on the company register of the relevant Chamber of Commerce.
What costs are involved?
Enrolment as a SAI is free up to December 31st 2009. The only cost is for a single payment of government stamp duty taxes (168,00 €), for enrolment in the SAI public register. For accreditation as a Qualified Operator no cost is incurred; access is completely free.
What is the list of Registered Dealers (SAI)?
The National Deputation, organ of vigilance and general direction of the BMTI, enters the SAI in a register, and keeps the register itself. This is a public list kept in the portal space and dedicated to the Deputation. There is another list kept by the BMTI in which Dealers at present actively operating in the on-line dealing system are listed. (See list).
How does the Insurance Service work?
The insurance service known as Secure On-line Market (in being since March 3rd 2008) enables professional operators, via their SAIs, to close insured on-line contracts. The seller can use the service to protect himself from risk of insolvency (See Details).
What is meant by Price Communication
Price Communication is an official document with which the BMTI issues information relating to deals struck in the dealing system, in pursuance of Ministerial Decree of April 6th of the Ministry for Agricultural Policy. The Communication contains the prices at which trading was done on-line, calculated as an average over the quantity of transactions per product, the local market (coinciding with the province or region) and delivery modes.
What is meant by monthly report?
The monthly report is an on-line deals analytical document issued every month. Exchange results are presented by number of contracts, quantity and value. Focuses on each type of market and territory are published.
What is meant by Chambers of Commerce Prices?
These make reference to the work carried out by the BMTI in creating a single database in which prices published by the Chambers of Commerce in their own lists are published. Chambers of Commerce prices, which can be compared through complete lists, are used by the BMTI to make ad hoc market analyses which are then made available on the Prices Area Portal.
What is meant by Prices Area Portal?
This has the aim of giving best exploitation of the information contained in the chambers price lists, so that the bulletins published by the various Chambers of Commerce can be compared and also so that important information on the state of the agricultural and food markets can be gleaned. The objective has been attained with the creation of a complete list for cereals, constituted by standard productions representing all the specific production areas in the National Territory. The complete list makes the official bulletins published by the single Chambers of Commerce available for comparison. The Prices Area relates to the specialists in the prices and statistics offices of the Chambers of Commerce.
What is meant by Complete Price List?
The complete list is a tool used by the BMTI to compare the prices lists of the various Chambers of Commerce. The lists published by the Italian Chambers of Commerce are a fundamentally-important wealth of data which unfortunately do not produce a fully-considered analysis of the data. Technical Committees, made up of sector experts, have constructed a series of Complete Lists (first for cereals and oil seed, and more recently for olive oil, table wine, dairy and milk products, citrus fruits and poultry, providing a previously unpresented comparability index. As with any summarising procedure the upper levels for local products necessarily take apparent precedence in terms of importance over some of the characteristics of locally-sourced products. The complete list does not have the objective of replacing local lists or to remove those important typical aspects of local produce, but rather aims to enable analyses to be made to give a national overview, as happens with the Chambers' National Fixing Index, while comparing variations in locally-encountered prices with similar products recorded by the Chambers of Commerce.
What does FINC mean?
The FINC (acronym for Chambers' National Fixing Index) presents, in general terms, a price which presupposes the summary of the complete price list. In the case of the FINC, however (which is at present used on the cereals and olive oil markets) the summarising operation has two further requisites: 1) a solid progress reports on the price recordings, compared over a period of time 2) a level which is not too dissimilar. The FINC is obtained from a suitable mean calculation of the market quotations which respect the two above-mentioned requisites, with the addition of a further element to enable a variability band about the central value, and whose movement between minimum and maximum is intended to be representative of the range thereof deduced from the price lists of the Chambers of Commerce.
What does Market Research mean?
Market research leads to in-depth studies to analyse the main characteristics of a market (structure, volume, production, prices, import/export, trends, norms and standards, product characteristics, sector studies, etc.). This research might also comprise assessment of the applicability of that particular market to the on-line platform.
