When Cheam Hing Lee retired from the banking world after more than 12 years, he took with him valuable experience in finance and commodities, as well as the confidence to start his own company. In just five years, Rhodium Resources Pte. Ltd. has grown from a small enterprise into a billion dollar multinational.
Cheam attributes Rhodium’s success to preemptive insight that allows them to anticipate and avoid devastating setbacks and to their aptitude to innovate that prioritizes the needs of customers and capitalizes on Singapore’s financial trade structure.
“We understand Asia. We are able to manage local issues professionally in a transnational and legitimate manner, so that we become a valuable supplier to other multinationals that want that same standard when they buy from us,” the CEO and Managing Director explained.
Cheam pointed out that few financial centres in the world fully understand commodity trade and considered trade finance a specialty. In effect, Rhodium acts like a financial institution that finds unused links within the traditional supply chain.
“We make many things irrelevant; but only do relevant business,” he said.
In the future, Cheam is thinking of taking Rhodium public. The company chief also expressed his wish to explore more opportunities in the United States in infrastructure and double Rhodium’s business.
Rhodium has offices in Hong Kong, Australia, Dubai and London and has a partnership with American global asset management firm Oaktree.
