Again, back to my milk analogy further up, in theory you could get your milk direct from the farmer and cut out the middleman. I'm sure some of them go to mark

Again, back to my milk analogy further up, in theory you could get your milk direct from the farmer and cut out the middleman. I'm sure some of them go to markets and set up stalls and such. But the reality is, it isn't the farmer's game to do that. Every moment he holds that milk he is carrying inventory risk (it could spoil). And if a buyer doesn't turn up, then it definitely will spoil. Instead he offloads it to a middleman who is equipped to handle it (refrigerated tankers, etc.). Now in this real world example, the bulk of what the middleman is paid for is value-add (transport, pastuerization, bottling, etc.), but there is also the payment for liquidity. These companies (i.e. Fonterra) will be there to take your milk every morning. So some of what you pay for is that liquidity.