Investments
In 2003, the group established its fund management subsidiary, Galena Asset Management.[24] In 2010, Trafigura bought 8% of Norilsk Nickel.[25]
In 2007, an explosion in Sløvåg in Gulen Municipality, Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway in a tank owned by the company had severe environmental and health consequences for people living nearby. According to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Vest Tank was trying to neutralize chemical waste when the explosion occurred, and the owner of the waste was Trafigura, on whose behalf Vest Tank was working.[26][27][28] Trafigura was not accused of direct responsibility, and refused requests by the Norwegian police to interview employees.[29]
In February 2013, Trafigura invested $800 million in the Australian energy market, acquiring more than 250 petrol stations, two oil import terminals and five fuel depots in three separate acquisitions by its subsidiary Puma Energy.[30][31] At the time, there was interest in Australia among energy traders due to a combination of rising demand and the closure of outdated, high-cost refineries.[32] The same month, Trafigura joint venture DT Group partnered with Angola’s state oil firm Sonangol to form a new company, Sonaci DT Pte Ltd, to market Angola’s new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.[33]
In March 2013, Trafigura announced a deal with South Sudan to export Dar Blend crude oil from Port Sudan.[34] The agreement with South Sudan was a continuation of Trafigura's longtime presence in the Sudanese oil market and followed the resolution of a legal dispute between Sudan and South Sudan over transit fees and oil revenues.[35]
In October 2013 Trafigura secured USD 1.5 billion in financing for an upfront loan to Russian oil producer OAO Rosneft. The prepayment facility, which provided a loan for advance payment for more than 10 million tons of products over five years, was the largest such deal ever completed by Trafigura.[36]
A month later Trafigura signed an agreement with Dallas-based pipeline operator Energy Transfer Partners to transport crude oil and condensate via a partially converted 82-mile pipeline from the Eagle Ford oil field in McMullen County, Texas, to Trafigura’s deep-water terminal at Corpus Christi Bay, near the Gulf of Mexico.[37][38]
In February 2014, Trafigura signed an agreement to acquire a 30% equity stake in the Jinchuan Group's newly established 400,000 tonnes-per-year copper smelter in Fangchengang, China.[39] In July, Trafigura launched Lykos, an online platform in India to sell metals to small and medium-sized manufacturers in the country.[40] In September, Trafigura completed the $860 million sale of an 80% stake in a Corpus Christi Texas oil storage terminal to Buckeye Partners LP.
In June 2015, Trafigura announced a 50:50 joint venture with Abu Dhabi investment company Mubadala Development Company—to invest in base metal mining. As part of the agreement Mubadala also acquired 50% of Trafigura's (Matsa) mining operation, which owns three mines in southern Spain that produce copper, zinc and lead concentrate ores.[41] This followed a doubling of processing capacity at the company's MATSA mining operation in Andalusia, Spain, where two new satellite mines are also being developed.[42]
In August 2015, it was reported that Trafigura subsidiary Impala Terminals is investing USD1 billion in Colombia to develop a new inland road, rail and river network connecting major coastal ports with Colombia's industrial heartland. The Magdalena River, which runs between Barrancabermeja inland and Barranquilla on the Atlantic coast, will allow transportation of crude oil and petroleum products, dry bulk, containerised and general cargo to and from inland Colombia.[43]
In October 2016, it was announced that Trafigura and Russian investment group United Capital Partners would each take a 24 per cent stake in Essar Oil, which owns India’s second-biggest private refinery in the western state of Gujarat as well as a network of 2,700 filling stations.[44]
Trafigura was criticised in December 2022 for handing out "more than $1.7bn (£1.4bn) to its top traders and shareholders after the energy crisis, fuelled by the war in Ukraine".[45]
In 2022, the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR), a joint venture between Trafigura, Mota-Engil of Portugal, and independent Belgian rail operator Vecturis, secured a 30-year concession to operate the Lobito rail corridor, which runs across Angola to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). To mark the transfer of the concession, a ceremony was held on 4 July 2023 in Lobito, with Presidents João Lourenço of Angola, Félix Tshisekedi of the DRC, and Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia in attendance. The concession encompassed the 1,300-kilometre Benguela railway corridor in Angola, extending it 400 kilometres into the DRC, and any potential service extensions in Zambia. The three countries signed an agreement to accelerate growth in domestic and cross-border trade along the corridor. The new company committed to upgrading infrastructure and services, investing US$455,000,000 in Angola and up to US$100,000,000 in the DRC.[46][47]
The Lobito Corridor project is considered a G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) flagship investment in Africa.[48] LAR’s mineral terminal at the Port of Lobito launched the venture's port operations in Angola with the docking of the MV Lindsaylou on July 12, 2024, with sulphur on board to be transferred to LAR cargo trains for shipment to the DRC for use in refined copper production in the Katanga region.[49]
On January 11, 2023, the company sold its 24.5% stake in the Indian company Nayara Energy, which was a joint venture with Rosneft. The share was bought by Hara Capital Sarl, a subsidiary of Mareterra Group Holding.[50] In May 2024, it was announced that Trafigura was investing in the company Greenergy.[51]
