Valerio Antonini is an Italian global commodities trader and entrepreneur. He is the CEO and founder ofQuanton Commodities Ltd, an agricultural trading firm, specialising grains, coffee, and cocoa with an international presence in over 20 countries.Antonini has an established track record in agricultural commodities trading. Between 2018 and 2019, Valerio himself traded over 4.5 million tons of grains and over 6.7 million tons of agricultural commodities, for international and national companies in the food industry, governments, international trading houses,etc.
The former head of trading at Casillo Group for over 10 years, he was based in Miami for 7 years, where he oversaw South American Markets, especially Cuba and Venezuela.
He was the first milling wheat broker for the Cuban State company and the first durum wheat broker for the Turkish and Mexican markets. After a decade in the commodity industry, he decided to establish his own company, goinginto business as founder & CEO of Quanton Commodities.
In 2020 Antonini established Quanton Commodities, specialising in the trade of grains and soft commodities. Quanton is one of the few UK-based commodities companies which engages with frontier markets in North Africa, Latin America and the Middle
East. Quanton has expanded to Africa where it seeks to construct a multi-million grain storage facility in Uganda which will function as a distribution centre for neighbouring countries.
Quanton Commodities is a full member of the Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA), Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fats Associations (FOSFA), the Federation of Cocoa Commerce (FCC) and the Green Coffee Association. It is also an official supplier to the United Nations Global Marketplace (UNGM).
Antonini first met footballing legend, Diego Maradona,in 2002 through mutual friends. In 2012, whilst workingas Head of Commodities Trading at Casillo Commodities Italia Spa, Antonini proposed a joint business venture between Casillo Group and Maradona to utilise the ex-footballer’s various political connections in Latin America. At the time Maradona was hosting reality TV shows in Dubai following his dismissal from the United
Arab Emirates club Al-Wasl.
Antonini proposed a mutually beneficial partnership; in exchange for Maradona acting as an intermediary for
Casillo Group in Latin America, Antonini offered Maradona a 5$PMT commission on commodities traded under these deals. Between 2015 and 2018, Maradonaband Antonini signed at least 23 contracts with Venezuelan logistics company, Corpovex. This business venture amassed to almost $1.5 billion in exchange for the supplies of corn and other raw commodities. Maradona’s commission on these deals saw his wealth surpass earnings made during his professional football career with commissions reaching $300,000 per month. At the same time Antonini’s career took a significant boost as Casillo group’s profits continued to benefit from the arrangement.
