Name: Resource Trading Platform Description of the innovation Field of the Invention: The present invention broadly relates to a method of matching buyers and sellers of physical commodities or products. In particular, the invention relates to commodities which have multiple attributes and which can be stored. The multiple attributes include characteristics such as grade, impurities, dates of delivery, shipping terms, counterparty risk and location of seller and buyer. Examples of commodities include iron ore, coking coal, liquefied natural gas, ferroalloys and rare earths. Background of the invention: Many physical commodities which have multiple attributes are still traded by direct contact between buyers and sellers such as by telephone, email or through direct meetings or through brokers. Attributes might include grade, impurities, price, departure port, shipping terms, shipping costs and delivery dates. Examples of commodities with multiple attributes include iron ore, coking coal, many ferroalloys, and liquefied natural gas. These are commodities that can be stored or that which do not need to be extracted. The process of direct trading can be highly inefficient and result in a lack of transparency in the market. Nevertheless, corporate persist with this manner of trading as an improved method of trading has not been presented. In the case of iron ore and coking coal, until this year, annual benchmark negotiations have been undertaken which form the basis of prices for the rest of market participants. These benchmark negotiations have broken down last year with China making charges of Rio Tinto negotiators stealing state secrets and bribery. In recent months moves towards quarterly negotiated prices have commenced but the process highlights the lack of an electronic market in these commodities. There is an increase in the activity around the physical trading of these commodities. A number of investment banks are participating in the swap market. Singapore Exchange is providing post-trade clearing. A number of London based clearing houses and brokers are providing clearing and broking services. However, still no one is matching physical buyers and sellers in the market. Object of the invention: The object of the present invention is to establish an electronic platform to facilitate buyers finding sellers of commodities and facilitating an auction process to secure the required product. Sellers register a shipment of a commodity together with all of the attributes of that commodity. Buyers search for their required commodity. Matches or near matches are presented to the buyer. The Page 1 of 5 buyer can choose to bid on the desired shipments. The highest bidder secures t each shipment. The platform facilitates the introduction of the buyers and sellers after a commission payment has been paid. In trading commodities on a shipment-by-shipment basis, not all volumes need to be transacted at a market clearing price and the seller retains control of each parcel until the terms of the sale are agreed. This is a different market structure than for example an electricity market where all volume that is produced must be sold at a market clearing price and once volume is submitted the seller has no further input into the sale process. The matching process is as follows: 1. The seller registers a parcel, say a shipment, of a commodity including the details of its multiple attributes. The seller can list a reserve price, whether more volume is available and whether the bidding will close at a set time or when there are no further bids within a certain time frame. Each parcel may be linked to other parcels listed in order to illustrate the potential for negotiating multiple shipments. 2. The buyer can search for the commodity with the detailed list of attributes that it requires. Next to each listed requirement, the buyer can list whether the field is a mandatory field, high priority or a low priority. 3. The system uses an algorithm to rank each available parcel of commodity in relation to the request. The quality of the match is decremented from 100% for each field that is not met depending on whether the priority field is mandatory (100% discount), high priority (15% discount) or low priority (5% discount). E.g. If a parcel has the mandatory field met and two items of low priority that are not met and one field with an attribute with a high priority is not met the resulting match would be 100% - 2*15% - 1*5% = 65% quality match. If another parcel has a mandatory field that does not match this would result in a 0% match. There may be parcels without a match on a mandatory field as well as other fields but the minimum value of a match will be constrained at 0%. 4. The buyer is presented with a list of commodities available that are ranked from best match to worst match based on the percentage match from the above algorithm. 5. The buyer can bid for the parcel of the commodity that provides the best result. The letter of credit details which will be used for the transaction will be entered and the bid is submitted. If the value of the purchase is not covered by the letter of credit or if the buyer is not an approved buyer of the seller, the bid is unsuccessful. 6. If the buyer is interested in purchasing more than one shipment and the seller has indicated that more than one shipment is available, the buyer and seller can enter a corporate trading room in which direct negotiations can be facilitated. 7. Buyers may alternatively be able to filter parcels of commodities available by a series of filters such as the auto-filter function presented in excel. 8. At the conclusion of the trade, the buyer and the seller complete feedback forms on the counterparty. Whether product was delivered as per the contract and the ease of dealing with the party are rated using a star rating system and this provides feedback for future potential counterparties. Page 2 of 5 Transaction is completed once the buyer bids a price which is above the reserve price and the bidding session is closed. The highest bidder secures the parcel of the commodity. Then the buyer pays a commission to the system and the details of the counterparties to the trade are provided to each other. A buyer or a broker can apply to an individual producer to be an approved bidder for that producer. The producer can nominate the maximum trade value for that customer. Alternatively a customer can seek a letter of credit from a financial institution with the amount and the purpose of the shipment. If a bid is received and either of the above two trade mechanisms are not provided, From a resource management perspective, producers need to be able to plan production levels into the future as well as to plan for required capital expenditure or expansions. Consumers need the reliability of supply to continue to keep production plants running and to avoid costly down times. Principal uses: The principal use of the trading platform is the marketplace for trading by many buyers and many sellers as an exchange of commodities or products. It could also be used, with minor modifications, by a large producer as a distribution mechanism of its own product. Brief description of the drawings: Figure 1 screen shot of buyers logon screen Figure 2 screen shot of sellers logon screen Figure 3 screen shot of buyers search screen Figure 4 screen shot of buyers/brokers application to be an approved buyer of a particular seller Figure 5 screen shot of buyers bid screen Search A search of lodged patents including the key words of "commodities trading' or "resources trading" did not reveal any competitors to the Object of the Resources Trading Platform. The nearest applicants were: 1. Process of and apparatus for Commodity Trading by Clear Interactive in Melbourne W02010009517. This describes a commodity producer giving commodity to an administrator for a token which can be purchased. 25/7/2008 2. A method or system for trading in a commodity W02007056816 A(1) - This is a method for trading commodities that cannot be stored and which have time dependent trading such as Page 3 of 5 electricity. The commodities addressed in our patent can be stored and do not have time based demand. 3. Commodities Exchange System and Method by Con Galtos, Electronic Exchanges Ltd describes the matching of buyers and sellers primarily for farmer customers in the grain markets using a first in first out system comprising Grain Handling companies, National Grower registries. The process includes system matches of buyers and sellers and volume mismatch rules. This is not the process proposed with an auction on a shipment by shipment basis. Specification of the delivery location automatically results in transport and delivery fees being automatically deducted. Sellers and buyers a placed in a queuing system such as in a share market. Page 4 of 5