Editorial Policy

ZUG Commodities is committed to publishing commodity trading intelligence that meets the highest standards of accuracy, analytical rigor, and editorial independence. This policy governs how we source, verify, publish, and correct content across all verticals — Energy & Oil, Metals & Mining, Regulation & Tax, and Trade Finance & Risk Management.

1. Sources & Research Methodology

All editorial content published on ZUG Commodities is derived from verifiable, institutional-grade sources. Our editorial hierarchy prioritizes sources in the following order:

• Primary regulatory and corporate filings — Annual reports, half-year results, preliminary earnings statements, prospectuses, and regulatory filings from Glencore, Ferrexpo, and other publicly listed commodity firms. Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) transit trade data. Canton of Zug Economic Promotion official statistics. FINMA regulatory publications.
• Official government publications — Swiss Federal Council reports, cantonal legislative documents, OECD policy papers, FATF mutual evaluation reports, IMF Article IV consultations, and World Bank commodity market outlooks.
• Institutional research — Peer-reviewed academic research from ETH Zurich, HSLU, and University of Geneva. Industry reports from McKinsey Global Institute, Deloitte Insights, S&P Global, and Wood Mackenzie. Independent research from Public Eye, LCTA, SUISSENÉGOCE, and the Zug Commodity Association.
• Verified media reporting — Reporting from Financial Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, and specialist commodity publications (Global Trade Review, Commodities Tech Insider, HC Group insights) — used for context and corroboration, never as sole sources for quantitative claims.

We do not use anonymous sources, social media posts, unverified forum content, or promotional materials as primary sources. When management commentary is cited, it is attributed to specific individuals and sourced from official press releases, earnings transcripts, or documented public statements.

2. Fact-Checking Process

Every article undergoes a multi-stage verification process before publication:

• Primary verification — All quantitative data (revenue figures, market share estimates, tax rates, production volumes, employee counts) must be traceable to a specific primary source and reporting period. No figure is published from memory or general knowledge alone.
• Cross-referencing — Material claims are verified against at least two independent sources. When sources conflict, the discrepancy is disclosed and the most authoritative or most recent source is identified.
• Currency and recency — All data includes the applicable date, reporting period, or publication date. Outdated statistics are flagged as such. Commodity prices include a timestamp or reference period.
• Expert review — Technical content relating to commodity derivatives, trade finance structures, regulatory frameworks, or tax optimization strategies is reviewed for accuracy against institutional reference materials.

3. Update Frequency

Content on ZUG Commodities follows a structured update schedule to ensure ongoing accuracy:

• Breaking intelligence — M&A activity, regulatory changes, earnings releases, and market-moving events are published as quickly as verification permits.
• Pillar content — Comprehensive analytical pieces are reviewed and updated quarterly, or immediately when material new information becomes available (e.g., Glencore annual results, regulatory reforms, tax rate changes).
• Data tables and statistics — Quantitative data (tax rates, production figures, market share estimates, company financials) is refreshed at minimum quarterly, aligned with corporate reporting cycles.
• Compliance pages — Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Disclaimer, and Editorial Policy are reviewed biannually and updated when legal or regulatory requirements change.

4. Correction Policy

Errors are corrected promptly, transparently, and proportionally to their significance:

• Minor corrections (typographical errors, formatting issues, non-material wording changes) are corrected without notice.
• Material corrections (factual errors in data, misattributed statements, incorrect company information) are corrected with a dated correction note appended to the article, identifying the original error and the corrected information.
• Significant corrections (errors affecting analytical conclusions, investment-relevant data, or regulatory interpretation) are corrected with a prominent correction notice at the top of the article, a dated explanation, and — where warranted — a revised analysis.

Readers can report errors to editorial@zugcommodities.com. All correction requests are investigated within 48 hours.

5. Editorial Independence

ZUG Commodities operates under strict editorial independence principles:

• No content is influenced, reviewed, or approved by advertisers, sponsors, or commercial partners before publication.
• Advertising revenue (including Google AdSense programmatic advertising) has no bearing on editorial decisions, company coverage, or analytical conclusions.
• We accept no payment for favorable coverage, editorial positioning, or suppression of critical analysis.
• When companies or individuals referenced in our coverage request corrections, we evaluate requests solely on factual merit — not on the identity or commercial significance of the requester.
• Advertising is visually and structurally separated from editorial content. Ad zones are clearly identifiable and never integrated into analytical text.

6. Disclosure Policy

ZUG Commodities discloses all material relationships that could create perceived conflicts of interest:

• If the editorial team or its principals hold financial positions in companies covered, this is disclosed at the article level.
• Affiliate relationships (if any) are disclosed both in the relevant content and on the Disclaimer page.
• Sponsored content (if accepted in the future) will be clearly labeled as "Sponsored" or "Partner Content" and will never appear without explicit identification.

7. Author Qualifications

ZUG Commodities editorial content is produced by professionals with direct experience in commodity markets, Swiss institutional frameworks, financial analysis, and business intelligence. The founding editor holds an MBA from Imperial College London and has worked across government advisory, institutional banking, commodity-linked finance, and digital asset regulation in multiple jurisdictions. Contributing analysts bring expertise in commodity trading operations, Swiss tax law, trade finance, energy markets, and mining sector analysis.

8. Data Integrity & Methodology

Quantitative data published on ZUG Commodities — including revenue figures, market share estimates, tax rates, and commodity flow volumes — must be traceable to identified primary sources with specified reporting periods. We distinguish clearly between audited financial results, management estimates, analyst projections, and editorial calculations. When we derive figures through our own analysis (for example, calculating Zug's share of Swiss commodity GDP), we disclose our methodology and source inputs. All data points carry implicit uncertainty; where ranges are more appropriate than point estimates, we present ranges. Revenue and financial data reference the most recent audited annual or interim report available at time of publication.

Market data and commodity prices referenced in analytical content are sourced from institutional-grade providers including S&P Global Commodity Insights, Bloomberg Terminal, Reuters Eikon, and the London Metal Exchange. We do not publish commodity price forecasts as editorial content — such forecasts constitute financial advice and fall outside our editorial mandate.

For questions about our editorial standards or to report concerns, contact editorial@zugcommodities.com.