Free
₩0
- Purchasing, orders, receipts, invoices and payments
- Excel and CSV import with document linking
- Commodity and FX market outlook with rationale
- Commodity and FX cost impact with response comparison
ASCEND Commodity Desk
Order the way you always have.
ASCEND analyzes the commodity and FX impact.
A free workspace for purchasing and finance teams at companies that import raw materials.
Example order · Copper cathode 200 t
LME copper + $172/t · Paid in USD · Current won cost ₩3.90B
Change in won cost
Won cost ₩3.90B → ₩4.39B · Copper price +₩254M · FX +₩227M
- Oct 2Order
- Oct 30Price basis
- Dec 18Payment
FX rate open · 35 business days
LME copper on the Nov 16 fixing date
$15,401+6.6% vs. current
KRW per USD on the Dec 18 payment date
₩1,408+5.4% vs. current
Routine transactions run as they always have. ASCEND flags only the ones where delivery, prices, payment accounts or quantities go off track.
When a key event hits
a purchasing manager's day
09:00 · Inventory check and raw-material orders
- Routine work
- Reviews stock movements, calculates each plant's requirement and places orders in SAP.
- Key event
- The supplier asks to push the full delivery from Nov 15 to Nov 18.
- ASCEND response
- Combines available stock with the production plan to flag a shortage of up to 60 t on Nov 16–17, and compares the supplier's split-delivery offer in the same table.
11:00 · Raw materials for overseas plants
- Routine work
- Consolidates monthly usage at overseas sites and compares supplier quotes on price and shipping schedule.
- Key event
- A copper shipment delay lifts the 1–3 month price outlook.
- ASCEND response
- Analyzes the cost impact on the 200 t still awaiting price fixing (+₩77.2M) and compares received quotes on the same terms.
12:00 · Supplier meeting
- Routine work
- Meets supplier contacts to manage the relationship and exchange information.
- Key event
- The supplier requests a change of payment account.
- ASCEND response
- Holds payment on invoices with an account-change request and resumes only after confirmation through the existing contact is recorded.
13:00 · Equipment and project purchasing
- Routine work
- Confirms the equipment specs operations requested, selects suppliers and negotiates quotes and price.
- Key event
- A German equipment invoice of €44,400 is payable in euros, and the rate may rise before the payment date.
- ASCEND response
- Shows the past EUR range over the same period to the payment date (KRW 1,470–1,515 per EUR) and calculates the won amount at any rate entered.
15:00 · Contract review and meetings
- Routine work
- Reviews annual purchase-contract terms and negotiates price and terms with suppliers and internal teams.
- Key event
- The meeting has to decide whether to fix the price.
- ASCEND response
- Compares keeping the contract, fixing the price with the supplier and hedging on the same basis, and records the chosen response and its rationale.
17:00 · Purchasing results and reporting
- Routine work
- Updates purchasing results and shares progress and key issues with the team.
- Key event
- 80 t was received, but 100 t was invoiced.
- ASCEND response
- Matches order, receipt and invoice to find the quantity gap and drafts a correction request to the supplier. Open items stay on the task list.
- Import dataBrings in existing purchase-order files with their column names. A column mapping set once applies to the next file.
- Link by transactionConnects order, receipt, invoice and payment into one transaction record, keeping originals and change history.
- Review exceptionsQuantity gaps, price gaps and payment-account changes are held for review before payment.
- Analyze cost impactAnalyzes cost impact using unfixed volumes and price-fixing dates as they stand.
A commodity market outlook, free without company data
LME copper cash USD/t
$14,449Day −0.8%
2026-10-30$14,449Latest
Also on the outlook screen
- 1–6 month price outlook
- Monthly central outlook and range.
- Event-by-event rationale
- Shows whether each key event raised, lowered or held the outlook, with the reasoning.
- Change from the last release
- Compares with the previous outlook for the same target date.
- Company cost impact
- Calculates the change in won cost from the unfixed volumes in linked orders.
Keep the contract, negotiate with the supplier or hedge,
compared in one table
| Response | If prices rise | If prices fall | Added cost and funding | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keep the contract | Cost rises with the market | Cost falls | None | Record the decision; alert if terms change |
| Fix the price with the supplier | Fixed at the quoted price | Quoted price holds | Quote premium, prepayment | Compare received quotes on the original's terms |
| Review a hedgeIf needed | Hedge gain offsets the rise | Hedge loss offsets the fall | Fees, margin | Request bank quotes after company approval |
Every figure keeps its source
- Linked originals
- Each amount, volume and pricing term links to its source document and location; changes keep before and after.
- Analysis apart from execution
- Cost analysis and response comparison never change contract, approval, payment or hedge status.
- Separate submitter and approver
- Viewing and approval rights are split by role, and invoices are approved by someone other than the person who uploaded them.
- Free, without conditions
- All core work is available without consenting to risk analysis or using a hedge.
The workspace is free.
Hedging only when needed.
When needed
Hedge design and execution
Advised separately, only when a hedge is needed.
Frequently asked questions
Is it free to use?
Purchasing, ordering, invoicing and payment work, the market outlook, and commodity and FX cost impact with response comparison are free. Only work that needs a financial transaction, such as hedge design and execution, is advised separately.
Which commodities are covered?
Any commodity that can be traded as a futures contract through a Korean securities firm.
- Base metals
- Copper, aluminium, zinc, lead, nickel, tin
- Precious metals
- Gold, silver, platinum, palladium
- Steel
- Hot-rolled coil
- Energy
- WTI crude, Brent crude, natural gas, heating oil, gasoline, gasoil, carbon allowances
- Grains and oilseeds
- Corn, wheat, soybeans, soybean meal, soybean oil, oats, rice, canola, palm oil
- Softs
- Sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, orange juice
- Livestock
- Live cattle, feeder cattle, lean hogs
For items not listed, we review and let you know whether they can be covered. Instruments offered by brokers can change, so we recheck the latest list before acting.
Do we have to change our ERP or spreadsheets?
No. Existing purchase-order files are imported with their column names, and a mapping set once applies to the next file. Work continues as before while ASCEND links the records of each transaction.
How accurate is the outlook?
An outlook can differ from actual prices. That is why we provide the range, release date, change from the previous release, and the events and reasoning behind each change, not only a central value. Actual prices carry their source and observation date.
Do we have to hedge?
No. Keeping the contract and negotiating with the supplier are compared first; a hedge appears only when the company adds it. Hedge comparisons on screen are pre-quote drafts, and nothing is sent to banks or executed without company approval.
Which companies is it for?
Purchasing, finance and trade staff and approvers at manufacturers and distributors that buy commodities priced off futures, such as metals, energy and grains, or that pay in dollars, euros or yen.
How is our company data used?
Only for operations and risk analysis within the scope the company agrees to. Core work stays available without consenting to risk analysis.