Trafigura returns to petrochemical trading

Commodity trading company Trafigura has set up a new joint venture to trade petrochemicals, five years after it scaled back its presence in the sector.

The new venture, which will focus on bulk liquid chemicals, includes senior petrochemical industry executives and a team from global trading and logistics company Altis. It will have operations in Houston, covering the US markets, and in Singapore with a branch office in Geneva.

Trafigura previously closed its dedicated petrochemical trading operations in 2014 with the shutdown of its trading desks in Singapore, Europe and the US. It remained involved in the aromatics trading market through its gasoline and naphtha teams.

Petrochemicals was never a core business for the company, which is a major trader of oil, products, metals and minerals. But the petrochemical market is expected grow over the next few years and the "time is right" to explore its potential, Trafigura said today.

Trafigura's head of gasoline trading Chris Clarkson and Tom Jay, former head of the company's deals desk for refined metals, bulk and concentrate, will be on the board of the new venture.