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Our products
Oil and its derivatives
Crude oil is far from a homogenous commodity. The unique
molecular characteristics of each different source of crude
determine how efficiently it will process into a broad range of
derivative products, including liquid petroleum gas (LPG),
gasoline, naphtha, jet fuel, diesel, fuel oil and asphalt but also
plastics, pharmaceuticals, detergents and much else.
Awareness of movements in demand and prices for crude oil and
its products is a key aspect of oil trading. This is delivered by
Trafigura’s global network of offices and operations. Our trading
hubs’ close relationships with their regions ensure early awareness
of the events and trends that drive demand.
Metals and minerals
Trafigura handles the supply of metal concentrates from mines to
smelting facilities and of refined metals from smelters to
downstream consumers such as rod mills and galvanisers.
Trafigura trades copper, lead and zinc concentrates as well as
alumina, the prime source of aluminium.
The greatest complexity in the metals and minerals trading
sector is in concentrates. The term “concentrate” refers to the
product produced by mines from ore extracted out of the ground.
Each type of concentrate has different degrees of impurities and
complexities dependent on the ore mineralogy, which imply greater
or lesser costs to treat and refine.
In-depth, on-the-ground information on the composition of
concentrates and understanding the characteristics of each smelter
is central to the trading of them. For this reason, the most
successful minerals traders also have a long-term commitment in the
production and supply chain process.
Trafigura’s refined trading activity centres around copper,
lead, zinc and aluminium metal.
“Refined metal” refers to metal of purity greater than 99.95%
content produced by smelters around the world. Unlike concentrate,
refined metal is generally homogenous in terms of quality.
Renewables
Renewables are a growing part of the energy sector. This is a
consequence of the long term rising cost of oil and the wider quest
for more sustainable sources of energy in the face of climate
change.
One area of marked growth is within the biofuels sector. This
expansion is driven in part by policy such as the EU Biofuels
Directive, which stipulates a 20% substitution of standard fossil
fuels with alternative biofuels in road transport by 2020.
Trafigura’s role is the sourcing and marketing of bio-diesel and
ethanol.
New Commodities
Trafigura has recently entered into the coal and iron ore
markets and have created the necessary infrastructure to be a
global force in the traded market of each of these commodities.