Regional office created in Montevideo to serve the South American Region
Trafigura Beheer B.V., a market leader in the global commodities industry, has today announced its intention to invest in and build its regional hub in Montevideo, Uruguay, to complement regional offices already established in Houston, Geneva and Singapore. Plans include investment of USD20 million in the construction of a new office building within the Zonamerica business park, with construction work due to start in March and take 18 months. It is expected that over 300 employees will be based in the offices by the end of 2015.
Trafigura already has a presence in Montevideo for commercial activity related to the trading of oil, minerals and metals for the South American region and shared support functions for the Americas. In future, heads of trading desks for the region and their teams will operate from Montevideo as part of the company's plans to grow trading volumes across the region, supported by teams in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru.
This move is also part of Trafigura's plans to invest in infrastructure assets in the region that support trading flows. Trafigura subsidiary Impala, the global terminals operator that provides port, warehousing and multi-modal logistics services for the movement of essential commodities will also base its South American operations in Montevideo. In September 2013, Impala announced a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Development, to buy a controlling interest in Porte Sudeste in Brazil from local iron ore producer, MMX. Operational later in 2014, this major new terminal with initial capacity of 50 million tonnes per annum will connect miners in Brazil's Iron Quadrangle with global markets.
"We're re-configuring our business to be able to offer the most competitive services to our customers at a time when intra-regional connections are becoming more important," said Mike Wainwright, Chief Operating Officer, Trafigura.
"We chose Montevideo and the Zonamerica business park in Montevideo for our new office building in particular because of the depth of local talent, the mature legal framework, and the stable and secure environment for international businesses. Within Zonamerica Trafigura has joined an international network of world-class businesses that also need a strong technological base and good infrastructure," said Mike Wainwright.
Recruitment will be predominantly local Uruguayan nationals who will join the company's well established training programmes.
Further Information
Trafigura's Global Press Office: +41 22 592 4528 or media@trafigura.com
Notes to editors
Founded in 1993, the Trafigura Group has become one of the world's leading independent commodity traders, specialising in the oil, minerals and metals markets. Primary trading activities are the supply and transport of oil and petroleum products and non-ferrous and bulk commodities. The trading business is supported by industrial and financial assets including global oil products distribution company Puma Energy; joint venture company DT Group; global terminals operator Impala; Trafigura's Mining Group and Galena Asset Management.
The Trafigura Group is owned by over 700 of its almost 9,000 employees who work in 58 countries. The Group has been connecting its customers to the global economy for more than two decades, growing prosperity by advancing trade.