Trafigura Group Pte Ltd (“Trafigura”), one of the world’s leading independent commodity trading companies, has named the first of its 35 crude oil and product tankers being built in South Korea and China, the company said in its press release.
Naming ceremony took place at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Jeolanam-do, in the southwest of South Korea in the presence of Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health, Dr Lam Pin Min.
The order for the 35 newbuild vessels that includes Medium Range (MR) tankers, LR2s and Suezmax tankers has been placed by a close Asian financial partner and the vessels are being leased on delivery to Trafigura with options to purchase at a later stage. Vessels are being delivered from today and throughout 2019, with the majority of vessels being delivered in the first quarter of 2019.
“The super eco-efficient vessels are being built to the highest technical specifications which also meet the upcoming IMO 2020 regulations,” said Rasmus Bach Nielsen, Global Head of Wet Freight Shipping for Trafigura. “We’re looking forward to employing the vessels within our trading division.”
The company’s wet freight trading division which acts as a profit centre in its own right was responsible for over 3,050 fixtures in 2017, up from 1,970 fixtures in 2015. It has decreased its time chartered wet fleet which, despite the new fleet’s arrival, will result in around 80 percent of all Trafigura-controlled wet cargoes continuing to be placed on third party tonnage.
Founded in 1993, Trafigura is one of the largest physical commodities trading groups in the world. Trafigura sources, stores, transports and delivers a range of raw materials (including oil and refined products and metals and minerals) to clients around the world. The trading business is supported by industrial and financial assets, including 49.6 percent owned global oil products storage and distribution company Puma Energy; global terminals, warehousing and logistics operator Impala Terminals; Trafigura's Mining Group; and Galena Asset Management. Trafigura is owned by around 600 of its 3,935 employees who work in 62 offices in 35 countries around the world. Trafigura has achieved substantial growth over recent years, growing revenue from USD12 billion in 2003 to USD136.4 billion in 2017. The Group has been connecting its customers to the global economy for more than two decades, growing prosperity by advancing trade.