Trade Finance Bridge Loans
You have agreed to buy. You have agreed to sell. Your supplier wants payment before they ship and your buyer will not pay until after they receive the goods. The gap in between is where most traders run out of options.
A trade finance bridge loan covers that gap. It is advanced against your confirmed transaction, repaid directly from buyer proceeds, and structured around the specific payment timeline of your trade. Financely places short-term trade bridge facilities for commodity traders, importers, and exporters across all major commodity classes and trade corridors globally.
Trade Bridge Finance at a Glance
The Problem a Trade Finance Bridge Loan Solves
Every physical trade transaction creates the same working capital problem. The supplier wants to be paid before or at the point of shipment. The buyer will not pay until after the goods have been shipped, inspected, or delivered. The trader in between has a confirmed transaction on both sides but a cash flow gap that can be anywhere from a few weeks to several months wide.
For traders who can fund that gap from their own balance sheet, no external financing is needed. For the majority of mid-market and emerging traders who cannot, the gap is the constraint that limits the volume of business they can do or, in many cases, stops a viable trade from happening at all. A trade finance bridge loan is the instrument that closes that gap, using the transaction itself as the primary security rather than requiring the trader to pledge unrelated assets or rely on a general corporate credit line.
Self-liquidating by design: The defining characteristic of a trade finance bridge loan is that repayment comes directly from the proceeds of the underlying transaction. The lender is repaid from buyer payment, not from the borrower's general cash flow. This self-liquidating structure is what allows non-bank lenders to advance against transactions for companies that would not qualify for conventional corporate lending on their balance sheet alone.
Scenarios Where a Trade Bridge Loan Is the Answer
The following are the transaction situations that most commonly drive demand for trade finance bridge facilities. If your situation matches one of these, you are in the right place.
Scenario 1: You need to pay your supplier before your buyer's LC is drawn.
Your buyer has issued an LC but it is a usance credit with a 90-day deferred payment period. Your supplier requires payment at shipment. You need to bridge the 90 days between paying the supplier and collecting from the issuing bank. A post-shipment bridge or LC discounting facility advances against the accepted LC draft and is repaid on the LC maturity date.
Scenario 2: You have a confirmed purchase order but your supplier wants payment upfront.
Your buyer has issued a confirmed purchase order and you have a supplier ready to produce and ship. The supplier requires 30 to 50 percent advance payment before production begins and the balance at shipment. You need a pre-shipment bridge against the purchase order. The facility funds the supplier advance and the balance payment, and is repaid from buyer proceeds after delivery and invoicing.
Scenario 3: You are running a back-to-back trade and need to fund the secondary LC.
Your buyer has issued a master LC in your favour. You need to open a second LC to your supplier but do not have the credit line at your bank to support the issuance. A back-to-back LC facility uses the master LC as collateral to fund the opening of the secondary LC and the supplier payment. Repayment flows from the master LC proceeds when the document chain is completed.
Scenario 4: You have shipped the goods but your buyer is paying on 60-day open account terms.
You have shipped, presented a clean invoice, and the goods have been received. Your buyer's standard payment terms are 60 days from invoice date. You have confirmed receivables but need cash now to fund your next purchase order. A post-shipment receivables bridge advances against the outstanding invoice and is repaid when the buyer pays at maturity.
Scenario 5: Your bank has declined and you have a supplier payment due in three weeks.
Your relationship bank has declined your trade finance request, citing counterparty geography, commodity type, or credit line constraints. You have a confirmed transaction with a creditworthy buyer and a verified supplier. The supplier payment is due in less than a month. A non-bank specialty trade finance provider can move faster than a bank and will underwrite the transaction rather than the corporate credit profile.
Have a Live Transaction That Needs Bridging?
Submit your trade details now and receive a financing assessment within one business day. No upfront fees. No commitment before you receive a response.
The Instruments We Use to Bridge Trade Transactions
A trade finance bridge is not a single product. The right instrument depends on where in the transaction timeline the gap falls, whether the buyer has issued an LC, the commodity type, and the counterparty profile. We assess these factors before recommending a structure.
| Gap in the Transaction | Bridge Instrument | Repayment Source |
|---|---|---|
| Need to pay supplier before goods are shipped | Pre-shipment finance or purchase order finance. Advanced against confirmed purchase order or buyer LC. | Buyer payment after shipment and document presentation. |
| Need cash now but holding a usance LC from buyer | LC discounting or deferred payment discounting. The accepted draft or DPA is discounted to release cash before maturity. | Issuing bank payment on LC maturity date. |
| Need to open a supplier LC but have no bank credit line | Back-to-back LC facility. Master LC used as collateral to fund the secondary LC to the supplier. | Master LC proceeds after document substitution and presentation. |
| Have shipped and invoiced but buyer pays on open account terms | Receivables finance or invoice discounting. Advanced against the outstanding invoice owed by the buyer. | Buyer payment at invoice due date. |
| Holding physical inventory between purchase and sale | Inventory finance under a collateral management agreement. Advance against warehouse stock value. | Proceeds from commodity sale to buyer. |
| Recurring trade gap across multiple transactions per month | Revolving trade finance facility or borrowing base. Available credit scales with eligible receivables and inventory. No new approval needed per transaction. | Rolling repayment as each underlying trade settles. |
Who This Is For
Trade finance bridge facilities are designed for companies with confirmed, live transactions. We do not work on speculative deals, pre-contract enquiries, or transactions where neither the buyer nor the supplier has been confirmed. The following profiles describe the clients we work with most frequently.
Commodity Traders with a Live Deal
A physical trader with a confirmed purchase and a confirmed sale who needs to bridge the payment gap between the two. Agricultural products, metals, energy, or chemicals. Single transaction or recurring book. The buyer and supplier are identified and the contract is signed or in final negotiation.
Importers Paying Foreign Suppliers
A company importing goods from a foreign supplier who requires advance payment, LC payment at sight, or payment at shipment before the importer has collected from their domestic buyers. The working capital gap is the time between paying the foreign supplier and collecting from local customers on credit terms.
Exporters Waiting on Buyer Payment
An exporter who has shipped goods and holds a clean bill of lading and invoice but whose buyer is paying on 30 to 180 day terms. The goods are delivered, the obligation is confirmed, but the cash has not arrived. A post-shipment receivables bridge converts the confirmed receivable into immediate working capital.
Intermediary Traders on Back-to-Back Transactions
A trader running a back-to-back transaction who has a buyer LC in hand but needs to fund the supplier payment without using their own working capital. The master LC is the security. The structure bridges the document chain between the two sides of the transaction.
Companies Declined by Their Bank
A business with a sound trade transaction that has been declined by its relationship bank due to counterparty geography, commodity type, credit line limits, or a bank policy change that has nothing to do with the quality of the underlying trade. Non-bank lenders underwrite the transaction, not the bank's internal appetite.
First-Time Exporters or New Trading Companies
A company new to international trade or a recently established trading entity with limited operating history but a confirmed transaction with a verifiable buyer and supplier. Strong transaction controls including third-party inspection, insurance, and a clear payment mechanism can compensate for a limited track record at the corporate level.
What Lenders Assess: How a Trade Bridge Is Underwritten
A trade finance bridge lender is not underwriting your company in the way a corporate lender would. They are underwriting your transaction. Understanding exactly what they look at tells you what to prepare before you submit.
The Buyer: Who Is Paying You
The buyer's creditworthiness is the primary security in most trade bridge structures. A named, verifiable buyer with a track record of payment, a confirmed LC from a rated issuing bank, or a strong credit profile in their home market substantially reduces the lender's risk. The buyer's country, the currency of payment, and the payment method all affect lender appetite and the terms available.
The Repayment Mechanism: How You Pay Back
The repayment waterfall must be clearly defined before any lender will advance. Buyer proceeds must flow through a controlled account or directly to the lender before being released to the borrower. An arrangement where the borrower collects buyer payment into their own account and then repays the lender is a weaker structure than one where the lender controls the payment receipt directly.
The Supplier: Who You Are Paying
The lender needs to verify that the supplier exists, is capable of producing and shipping the goods described, and has a trading relationship with the borrower that is consistent with the transaction. A supplier who cannot be independently verified, who has no online or registry presence, or whose production capacity is inconsistent with the transaction volume is a risk factor that will affect lender appetite or result in additional due diligence requirements.
The Documents: What Controls the Goods
Control over the bill of lading is the primary security over the physical goods in transit. A lender who is named as consignee on the bill of lading, or to whose order the bill of lading is drawn, controls the release of the goods independently of the borrower. Lenders who do not have control over the transport document are relying on the borrower's good faith for repayment, which is a weaker security position that most bridge lenders will not accept.
The Timeline: When You Get Paid
The lender needs a defined, credible repayment date. A shipment date, an LC maturity date, a buyer invoice due date, or a contract payment milestone gives the lender a specific date against which they can structure the facility tenor and calculate their exposure. A transaction without a defined payment timeline cannot be priced or structured as a bridge facility.
Insurance and Inspection: How the Goods Are Protected
Marine cargo insurance naming the lender as co-insured or loss payee protects against physical loss during transit. A pre-shipment inspection certificate from a named independent inspector confirms quality and quantity before funds are released to the supplier. Both are standard requirements on any well-structured trade bridge facility and their absence is a red flag for lenders.
Commodities and Trade Corridors We Finance
We have active lender relationships across the major physical commodity categories and global trade corridors. The list below is illustrative. If your commodity is not listed, submit your transaction and we will advise on lender appetite.
Agricultural Commodities
Grains, oilseeds, sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, rice, and processed agricultural products. Fertilisers and agricultural inputs. Trade corridors including South America to Asia, Black Sea to MENA, and US to sub-Saharan Africa.
Metals and Mining Products
Copper, aluminium, zinc, nickel, iron ore, steel billets and scrap, precious metals. Metal concentrates and refined products. Trade corridors including Africa to China, CIS to Europe, and Latin America to Asia.
Energy and Petroleum Products
Crude oil, diesel, fuel oil, jet fuel, LPG. Petrochemical feedstocks and derivatives. Coal and coke. Trade corridors including Middle East to Asia, West Africa to Europe, and US Gulf to Latin America.
Chemicals and Industrial Goods
Bulk chemicals, polymers, rubber, timber, and construction materials at commodity scale. Manufactured goods imported from Asia for resale in Western markets. Electronics and consumer goods on purchase order or LC terms.
Loan Parameters for Trade Bridge Facilities
| Parameter | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Facility size | $500K to $50M per transaction | Larger facilities available under revolving structures for traders with recurring deal flow above $5M per month. |
| Tenor | 30 to 180 days per transaction | Longer tenors available for prepayment structures and revolving facilities. Tenor is matched to the underlying transaction payment cycle. |
| Advance rate | Up to 100% of supplier invoice value | Effective advance rate depends on buyer credit quality, document control structure, and collateral. Most facilities advance 80 to 95 percent of the confirmed invoice or contract value. |
| Pricing | Transaction-specific | Priced on the buyer credit profile, tenor, commodity, and counterparty geography. Indicative pricing provided as part of the structuring assessment. All-in cost is typically expressed as an annualised rate over SOFR or equivalent. |
| Minimum track record | At least one prior completed trade transaction | First-time transactions considered where the buyer is a rated entity or has issued a confirmed LC from a top-tier bank and transaction controls are robust. |
| Geography | 60+ countries across active trade corridors | Strongest lender appetite for transactions involving buyers in OECD markets. Emerging market buyers considered where LC confirmation or credit insurance is in place. |
What We Need From You to Get Started
Submit the following information when you contact us. The more complete your submission, the faster and more specific our assessment will be.
- Commodity type, specification, quantity, and total transaction value
- Buyer name, country of incorporation, and payment method: LC, open account, or purchase order
- Supplier name and country of origin
- Shipment date and buyer payment date or LC maturity date
- Amount of financing required and which side of the transaction the gap falls on
- Signed purchase contract, sale contract, or LC details if already issued
- Inspection and insurance arrangements confirmed or in progress
- Any prior financing declined and the reason given, if applicable
- Your company's registered name, country, and a brief description of your trading history
On timing: Trade finance bridge facilities have a minimum processing time of ten to fifteen business days from first contact to funds available for straightforward transactions. If your supplier payment deadline is fewer than ten business days away, tell us immediately so we can assess whether the window is workable. Do not withhold deadline pressure from your initial submission. It is far more useful than withholding it and discovering the constraint later.
Why Companies Come to Financely Instead of Going Directly to a Lender
We Know Which Lenders Will Say Yes
The trade finance lending market is fragmented. Lenders have specific mandates covering commodity types, buyer geographies, transaction sizes, and document structures. A submission to the wrong lender wastes time you often do not have. We know which lenders have active appetite for which transaction types and we target your submission accordingly from day one.
We Package the Deal Before It Goes to Market
A submission that reaches a lender incomplete, with missing counterparty information or an unclear repayment mechanism, gets deprioritised. We assess your transaction, identify what is missing, and structure the package before making any lender introduction. The lender receives a submission that is ready to assess, not one that generates a list of clarifying questions.
We Work Across Bank and Non-Bank Lenders
Some transactions fit bank mandates and some do not. Transactions involving buyers in jurisdictions that major banks are reluctant to cover, commodities with thin insurance markets, or ticket sizes below a bank's minimum are better directed to specialist non-bank trade finance providers. We access both segments and select the right route for your specific transaction.
No Upfront Fees
We do not charge advisory or retainer fees upfront for trade finance bridge structuring and placement. Our fee is success-based and is agreed transparently before any lender introduction is made. You do not pay until a transaction closes and the fee structure is explained as part of our initial assessment response.
Submit Your Trade Transaction Now
If you have a confirmed commodity trade or import transaction and need bridge financing to cover the gap between supplier payment and buyer collection, submit your deal through our request for quote page. We assess every submission against our active lender mandates and revert with a structuring recommendation within one business day.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a trade finance bridge loan?
A short-term facility that covers the working capital gap between paying a supplier and collecting from a buyer. Advanced against a confirmed transaction and repaid directly from buyer proceeds. Self-liquidating by design. Tenor typically 30 to 180 days matched to the underlying payment cycle.
How do I pay my supplier before my buyer pays me?
The most common structures are pre-shipment finance advanced against a confirmed purchase order or buyer LC, or post-shipment receivables finance against the outstanding invoice. The lender pays the supplier and is repaid from buyer proceeds. The key requirements are a verified buyer, a confirmed contract or LC, and a clear payment timeline.
Can I get this without a bank credit line?
Yes. Non-bank specialty lenders underwrite the transaction rather than your balance sheet or banking relationship. A strong buyer, a verifiable supplier, a confirmed contract or LC, and robust transaction controls can access trade bridge finance even without an existing bank trade facility.
What is the minimum deal size?
We work with transactions from $500,000. Most of the deals we place fall between $1M and $20M per transaction. For recurring traders with monthly volumes above $5M, a revolving facility is typically more efficient than transactional bridge finance on a deal-by-deal basis.
My bank declined. Can you still help?
In most cases yes. Banks decline trade transactions for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the trade: counterparty geography limits, commodity-specific restrictions, credit line constraints, or internal policy changes. Non-bank lenders in our network have different parameters and often have appetite for transactions that fall outside a bank's current mandate.
How long does it take to put a trade bridge in place?
Ten to fifteen business days from first contact for a straightforward transaction with clean KYC and complete documentation. Starting the financing conversation the moment commercial terms are agreed gives you the best chance of closing within your transaction timeline. The process cannot be compressed to fewer than two weeks for any properly underwritten trade finance facility.
Ready to Bridge Your Trade Transaction?
Submit your deal and receive a structuring assessment and lender options within one business day.
Disclaimer: Financely operates as a finance advisory and deal origination platform. We do not lend directly. All financing decisions are made independently by lenders based on their own credit assessment, KYC process, and due diligence. Facility parameters, advance rates, pricing, and timelines described on this page are indicative and subject to change based on market conditions, transaction specifics, and individual lender mandates. Obtain independent legal and financial advice before committing to any trade finance arrangement.