Impala Terminals

Impala Terminals is a 50:50 joint venture between Trafigura and Australian pension fund management group IFM Investors.

Impala Terminals has two pillars of activity: owner and operator of key infrastructure in 14 countries and asset manager of third party assets in 7 countries.

In the former, Impala Terminals designs, develops and operates key infrastructure and logistics assets across multiple modes of transport. This includes the safe, reliable handling of dry and liquid cargoes to and from inland sites of production and consumption, through deep sea ports. In total, the joint venture has 27 operations trading under the Impala Terminals brand across 14 countries.

In the latter, the joint venture also manages a number of Trafigura owned port logistics, storage and transportation assets. In this way, it plays a key supporting role in Trafigura’s activities and third-party trade flows in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The highlight of the 2022 financial year was the acquisition of 19 energy infrastructure and storage assets in 10 countries from Puma Energy.

The deal gives Impala Terminals’ business a new dimension, adding oil and petroleum products, and builds on the Group’s existing growth and diversification strategy.

After the financial year ended, Impala Terminals strengthened its management to help manage the expanded business and oversee the integration process. Kevin Nichols, the former CEO of Shell Midstream Partners, joined as Executive Chairman, while Sjoerd Bazen, the former Head of Vopak in Singapore, was appointed Head of the new energy infrastructure division. Nicolas Konialidis will continue to run the dry bulk and logistics division.

All Impala Terminals operations performed at or above expectations in FY2022. Volumes increased year-on-year as the existing operations of Impala Terminals continued to diversify their product and services offering. This now includes a new empty container yard in Mexico that provides its customers with a prime location to store, maintain and repair their containers close to the highly congested port of Manzanillo, saving time and transportation costs.

Impala Terminals non joint venture assets

In Colombia, Impala Terminals operates an inland port at Barrancabermeja and a barging operation from two ports on the Atlantic Ocean. Impala Terminals handled a number of new commodities during the year at the Barrancabermeja port terminal, including cocoa, coffee and non-ferrous concentrates. Impala Terminals is working closely with state-owned oil company Ecopetrol on its plans to expand a 250,000-barrel per day refinery, which will eventually be connected to Impala Terminals’ terminal at Barrancabermeja via pipeline. This will provide Ecopetrol with greater flexibility to import and export products and feedstocks by barge instead of truck.

In Bolivia and Chile, Impala Terminals delivered a robust performance with its assets handling increased volumes of copper, lead and zinc concentrates, benefiting from strong demand and increased mining production. In both locations the group looks to expand its offering and services.

At the Impala Burnside Terminal, in the US state of Louisiana, the focus was also on diversification, including a deal to sell a portion of land at this site to a major gas and chemicals group, which is weighing up plans to build a plant producing low-carbon ammonia. This initiative shows how Burnside, which is better known for its handling of coal, can also play a role in the shift to cleaner fuels.

Impala Terminals’ assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia had another good year, growing their services and cargo-handling volumes in particular for imports destined for the mines around the terminals. There was strong demand for imported chemicals, mining reagents and project cargoes for use in the Copperbelt. Impala Terminals’ freight-forwarding business, which oversees the movement of goods on behalf of importers and exporters, grew meaningfully by increasing its third-party volumes. For the year ahead, the main focus will be on the integration of the energy infrastructure assets and a further diversification and expansion of products and services to help offset the impact of rising costs and broader inflationary pressures.