Every week, fuel buyers receive offers for EN590 10 ppm diesel at attractive prices, often with impressive-looking documents attached. Many of these offers come from genuine suppliers. Some do not. The difference is rarely visible in the offer itself; it shows up when you check the company, the procedure and the documents behind it.

The checklist below reflects the controls that experienced buyers, banks and trading companies apply as a matter of routine. None of them require special tools, only discipline.

1. Verify the company, not the email

Start with the seller, not the product. Ask for a recent extract from the official company register and check it yourself on the registry's own website, such as the Registro Mercantil in Spain or Companies House in the United Kingdom. Confirm that:

  • The company name, registration number and address match the offer and the website
  • The email address uses the company's own domain, not a free email service
  • The phone number on the offer matches the one published on official sources
  • The person signing has authority to act for the company

When in doubt, call the company on a number you found yourself, not the one written on the offer.

2. Check the price against the market

Physical diesel trades close to published benchmark prices from agencies such as Platts and Argus, plus or minus a differential for location, timing and quality. Refiners and established traders have no reason to sell far below the market. An offer at a deep, unexplained discount is the single most common warning sign.

3. Understand the procedure

A genuine transaction follows a recognisable sequence: offer, verification of both parties, signed sales and purchase agreement (SPA), payment instrument issued by the buyer's bank, independent inspection at loading, and payment against shipping documents. Be cautious when an offer:

  • Asks for fees before a contract is signed, described as storage, injection, document or registration fees
  • Requires payment before any independent verification of the product
  • Proposes a "dip test then pay" in tanks whose existence you cannot confirm directly with the terminal operator
  • Insists on strict confidentiality that prevents you from checking any of the above

You can read how BRONCI structures its own transactions in our compliance and transaction procedure.

4. Verify the documents at the source

Certificates of quality, inspection reports and tank storage receipts are easy to copy and alter. Do not judge them by how they look. Instead:

  • Confirm inspection reports directly with the local office of the inspection company that issued them
  • Confirm tank storage receipts directly with the terminal operator, using contact details from the operator's official website
  • Check that dates, quantities, product names and company names are consistent across every document

5. Insist on independent inspection

Quality and quantity should be confirmed at the loading port by an internationally recognised inspector such as SGS, Intertek or Bureau Veritas, appointed or at least confirmed by the buyer. The inspection report becomes part of the shipping documents and protects both sides.

6. Screen for sanctions

Check the seller, the product origin and the vessel against the sanctions lists of the European Union, the United Nations, the United Kingdom and the United States (OFAC). For vessels, look for warning signs such as gaps in AIS tracking, recent changes of name or flag, and ship-to-ship transfers in high-risk areas. A sanctions breach can freeze payments and cargo even when the buyer acted in good faith.

7. Keep payments bank-to-bank

Use payment instruments that your own bank can verify, such as an irrevocable documentary letter of credit, and confirm any incoming bank messages through your bank rather than by email. Never send funds to a personal account, or to an account in a country with no connection to the seller.

Quick checklist

  1. Company register extract checked on the official registry website
  2. Contact details confirmed independently
  3. Price consistent with published benchmarks
  4. No fees requested before a signed contract
  5. Documents confirmed directly with issuers and terminals
  6. Independent inspection at the loading port agreed in the contract
  7. Seller, origin and vessel screened against sanctions lists
  8. Payment through a verifiable bank instrument

Working with BRONCI

BRONCI applies these same checks to every counterparty and every cargo. If you are looking for EN590 10 ppm diesel, send us your requirement and we will start with mutual verification before any commercial documents are exchanged.

This article is general information and does not constitute legal or financial advice.