Trafigura and Circulor to provide carbon emissions tracking and traceability via blockchain to nickel and cobalt supply chains
Singapore, 7 October 2021 – Trafigura Pte Ltd (“Trafigura”), one of the world’s largest physical commodity trading companies, and Circulor, the leading provider of supply chain provenance and emissions tracking services, have today signed a Master Services Agreement to provide traceability and CO2 tracking for Trafigura’s nickel and cobalt trading division.
Under the agreement, Trafigura and Circulor will develop an innovative programme to track dynamically and attribute CO2 emissions throughout Trafigura’s nickel and cobalt supply chains for customers, in particular electric vehicle manufacturers.
Separately, Trafigura and Circulor are working together to support Trafigura’s responsible sourcing and traceability programme. Circulor will play a critical role in supporting the physical tracking and tracing of material, as well as the communication of ESG data relevant to the application and integration of, for example, ‘OECD Due Diligence Guidance’ and the ‘UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights’ to its value chain.
The objective for both projects is to work with a range of upstream producers and downstream receivers progressively to integrate and communicate responsible sourcing due diligence and CO2 tracking data into their respective value chains via Circulor’s proven Blockchain traceability platform.
These projects complement the work of the Finnish Minerals Group (FMG) and Circulor at the Terrafame nickel and cobalt mine in Finland, in which Trafigura’s Galena Asset Management is a minority shareholder, to advance the industrial deployment of traceability and emissions tracking for FMG, its portfolio companies and its automotive sector customers.
Circulor, which offers a comprehensive and mature Blockchain solution, first conducted a pilot in 2018 on the tracing of tantalum from Rwanda in partnership with the Rwandan Mining, Petroleum and Gas Board. Circulor’s portfolio of clients include nickel and cobalt producers such as BHP and FMG, service providers such as SGS and automotive manufacturers including Volvo Cars, Daimler, Jaguar Land Rover and Polestar.
Jeremy Weir, Trafigura’s Executive Chairman and CEO, said: “As a key supplier of the vital commodities our customers need, Trafigura has invested significantly in developing tools to identify and mitigate social and human rights risks and environmental impacts, including carbon emissions, in global commodity supply chains.
“Circulor’s offering is tried-and-tested and their expertise and market reach are internationally respected. Today’s agreement is an important next step in improving transparency in commodity markets, and will enable us to offer our customers responsibly-sourced commodities, with a clearly-defined carbon specification.”
Douglas Johnson-Poensgen, Founder and CEO of Circulor, said: “Our mission is to bring greater transparency to the most complex industrial supply chains, in order to prevent the exploitation of people and planet. By working with the world’s pre-eminent metals trader at this scale, we can together establish a new benchmark for responsible and sustainably sourced battery materials.
“There are very real benefits to this work, including assurance of responsible supply, understanding and clarity of CO2 emissions at different points in supply chains, and the provision of ESG data. This agreement paves the way for a future in which we help Trafigura excel in meeting its ambitions.”
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Circulor Press Office: Guy Dennis at TB Cardew: +44 7917 918226; or
Alycia MacAskill: +44 7876 222 703; or circulor@tbcardew.com
Trafigura’s Global Press Office: +41 (0) 22 592 45 28 or media@trafigura.com
About Circulor
Circulor enables businesses to fully analyse, track and manage their supply chains to support responsible sourcing and improve sustainability. It does this by providing an enterprise software platform, which creates a reliable chain of custody of materials and attaches sustainability and other ESG data to that flow of materials.
Visit: www.circulor.com
About Trafigura
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 and has recently established a power and renewables trading division.
The trading business is supported by industrial and financial assets, including a majority ownership of global zinc and lead producer Nyrstar which has mining, smelting and other operations located in Europe, Americas and Australia; a significant shareholding in 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.
With circa 850 shareholders, Trafigura is owned by its employees. Over 8,500 employees work in 48 countries around the world. Trafigura has achieved substantial growth over recent years, growing revenue from USD12 billion in 2003 to USD147 billion in 2020. The Group has been connecting its customers to the global economy for more than two decades, growing prosperity by advancing trade.
Visit: www.trafigura.com