Sekulungile Mkhize

Responsibilities & expertise:

i) Commercial Operations :

• Provide advisory services to marketers and traders in the resolution of marketing related operational problem and in drafting of contracts. Maintain long-term relationships with in-county brokers, traders and producers. Maintain accurate records within relevant systems in line with legal/tax/compliance requirements. Execution of purchasing and sales transactions in Africa. Deliver on ad-hoc sales opportunities in-country supporting trade strategies and target delivery. Contribute towards meeting and/or exceeding budget sales through ad-hoc products and sales. Resolve physical and financial inefficiencies through accurate data management. Analysis of portfolio and reporting performance.
• A solid understanding of the production process, technical characteristics, market dynamics, commodity applications, our customers, their requirements and how we deliver value. Develop and use negotiation and influencing skills and strategies and builds relationships to create optimal outcomes to deliver value. Understand, quantify and manage risks of the business across the whole marketing value chain to support value creation. Manage activities to facilitate and execute sales effectively and efficiently to generate value.
• Provide advisory services for vessel scheduling coordination. Provide advisory services for the coordination of contract execution.

ii) Quality & Market Intel:

• Manage relationships with quality assessment service providers and call on services as required Optimize product allocation and liaise with Integrated planning teams and Optimization team to align with product strategy and execution plan. Accountable for providing commodity technical insight, knowledge and understanding of product portfolio and sourcing landscape. Provide commodity research input and market analysis for product portfolio.

Contracts:

• Ensure all contracts are performed in accordance with agreed terms and conditions. Advisory input to policies and procedures as needed. Check for deals that need contracts/amendments and for existing agreements. Prepare agreement/amendment. Send draft agreement for review and sign off as per DAF, send agreement/amendment to the counterparty.

iii) Invoicing:

• Generate an invoice based on the terms of the corresponding contract and supporting documentation. All approvals must be received prior to issuing the invoice to the counterparty.
• Manage monthly invoicing and reconciliations for all service agreements. Execute the Over The Counter requirements of the sales and Invoice to Pay of the purchase contracts. Manage and update shipping and delivery schedules. Maintain and accountable for all data inputs into systems for planning and executing decision making. Ensure that invoices and billing calculations are correct & updated. Ensure that disputes are resolved appropriately & on time to avoid delayed payment, irrecoverable debt or loss of future sales through or customer service.
• Provide information on letter of credit settlement. Provided finance with invoice data and other LC data to meet monthly reporting requirements. Debtor management, payments and invoicing. A solid experience in dealing with all matters relating to supply chain logistics including changes to vessel nominations, laycans etc., ensuring that financial exposure is minimize essential.

Responsibilities & Expertise:

1) Physical Trading:

• Good understanding of economic, commercial and political issues affecting thermal coal markets. In depth knowledge of coal markets and the key buyers of such material.
  
• A strong long standing history of mature relationships with key coal mining & coal producers. Trading mindset, clear focus on relative value and optimization strategies.
• Expertise in global commodity markets and their drivers. Solid experience/knowledge of the coal market, technical coal specifications and operational knowledge of steel manufacture. Sound knowledge of financial management, price risk management and hedging including key pricing indices.
• Sound knowledge of contract management. Deep understanding of marketing fundamentals (i.e. pricing, delivery strategy, value chain dynamics, net back calculations). Strong ability to priorities deliverables under pressure.
• Experience in liaising with port official and superintending laboratories. Experience within a complex organization across different countries and jurisdictions, cultures, interfacing with internal and external stakeholders.
• Identifying and achieve opportunities in the African region, specifically focusing on the South African traded markets, optimizing pricing and operating schedules. Execute thermal coal trading strategy in collaboration with the origination sourcing strategy including identifying 3rd party purchase opportunities where possible.
• Promote the sale of book positions on metallurgical and thermal coal and blended coal shipments into key markets. Develop and maintain long-term relationships with end users, brokers, traders, producers and exchanges. Work closely with technical support to identify and develop new product solutions with end users.
• Understand daily valuation of all physical commodity contracts to identify best value. Work closely with internal Contract, KYC, Credit & Operations team for smooth execution of Physical trade cycle. Monitor and utilize physical and financial instruments (in collaboration with Financial and Physical desks) to expand and complement existing business. Negotiate commercial agreements and pricing under prevailing market conditions.
• Communicate all forms of market information in order to share knowledge internally benefiting the group. Ensure all contracts are performed, both on volume and contractual qualities in accordance with agreed period and terms. Identify and develop structural opportunities in the market, i.e. stock and sale partnerships, multiple product opportunities.

Responsibilities & Expertise:

i) Business Development Trade & Marketing:

• Establishing and cultivating enduring client relationships, both new and existing, by engaging with clients in local and international markets such as China, Dubai, India, and Singapore. Demonstrating a sound knowledge of mining activity and exploration networks in projects across Africa. Proactively scouting new projects and defining execution timelines to seize new business opportunities.
• Possessing a strong understanding of trading requirements, limitations, and governance laws specific to each country to effectively execute new business opportunities. Formulating and devising innovative business strategies, including improvement plans based on customer feedback and client relationships.
• Managing projects and ensuring adherence to service level agreements (SLA). Vigilantly monitoring contractual requirements and addressing deviations from obligations with clients, ensuring that the client is well-informed about the costs related to deviations from the agreed scope. Ensuring proper approval processes for work performed outside the contractual scope.
• Addressing and resolving client complaints, measuring customer satisfaction, and ensuring timely response to queries. Logging all client complaints and communicating investigation outcomes to clients. Closing new business deals through contract negotiations, integrating contract requirements with business operations. Writing business proposals, compiling tenders, and designing business models. Monitoring and analyzing performance metrics, suggesting improvements, and working within budget constraints. Managing budget and cost control measures.
• Evaluating project-associated risks and implementing risk mitigation protocols while considering the associated costs. Measuring customer feedback and satisfaction, investigating customer complaints, and ensuring timely resolution to retain and grow business. Managing profit and loss matrices for the organization on a project-by-project basis, ensuring that resources required for project scope align with approved budget.

ii) Quality Management (Trade & Exploration):

• Evaluate analytical laboratory results, ensure that all QC check protocols are in place to produce reputable data. Evaluating, approval & signing off Trade Test Certificates., before issuing to the client. Address all client's queries generated from the dispute in analytical results. Ensure that sampling protocols are in place, to ensure that each vessel is sampled according to appropriate ISO requirements (taking into consideration the nominal top size of the material & the total tonnages), and that sampled increments are sufficient to provide a homogeneous representative sample.
• Advise clients on what would be the appropriate methodology when stockpiling, blending and on the calculation of blending ratios. Design an appropriate sampling regime for the client in order to ensure that the prospected product is achieved, and also design a proper sampling & monitoring system for the stockpiles to avoid quality failures. Where required develop a progressive sampling plan for the clients, to ensure that the client achieves the desired quality on the product.

Responsibilities & Expertise:

i) Operations:

• Oversee day-to-day business operations, ensuring seamless functionality. Compile monthly invoicing bulletins, guaranteeing timely payment of all pending invoices. Submit invoices for authorization, taking legal actions for overdue clients lacking payment commitments. Monitor and follow up with clients to ensure prompt and authorized payment of monthly invoices.

• Manage profit and loss matrices for each project, aligning resources with approved budgets. Measure customer feedback and satisfaction, investigating and addressing complaints promptly to enhance business retention and growth.

• Enforce adherence to client requirements, contractual obligations, and timely reporting. Provide calculated Turnaround Time (TAT) dates to clients based on scope or contractual agreements. Manage client communication, addressing any deviations or requests promptly for sustained client satisfaction.

ii) Quality Management: ISO 9001, ISO 17025, ISO 19001 & OSHAS 18001:

• Design, Implement a fully-fledged QMS System for the organization from scratch & for the client. Writing and reviewing of Quality policies (Quality and Safety) as per ISO requirements. Monitor the implementation of the QM System and ensure full compliance.

• Monitor daily Quality production of the Plant, compile & issue Daily Plat control analytical reports. Provide opinions & interpretations on analytical data to the client. Constantly liaise with the Plant Superintendent when the results produced are out of spec, so that they can adjust the Plant washing medium, perform routine maintenance etc.

• Design Plant sampling regimes for Plant control, Train Export sampling & Bias Testing. Prepare Coal Marketing samples for the client and ensure that the required Marketing Spec is achieved. Manage the logistics of samples from Mozambique to final destination (London, China, Singapore etc)