https://www.miningweekly.com
Business|Energy|Logistics|Operations
Business|Energy|Logistics|Operations
business|energy|logistics|operations

Trafigura’s head of metals operations to leave in restructuring

14th March 2023

By: Bloomberg

  

Font size: - +

Trafigura Group’s head of metals operations is leaving as part of a global restructuring of its logistics team, the latest shakeup at the trading house since it was hit by a vast alleged nickel fraud.

Svetlana Kabanova, who ran operations for Trafigura’s metals trading unit, is leaving the company, according to people familiar with the matter. Instead of separate heads of energy and metals, Trafigura will now have a single global head of operations, one of the people said. The restructuring had long been planned but it has recently been accelerated, the person said.

Trafigura is one of the world’s dominant metals traders, but its metals team has been under pressure since it revealed that it was facing losses of $577-million after finding that metal cargoes it bought didn’t contain the nickel they were supposed to.

Kabanova couldn’t be reached for comment. She is the latest person to leave the metals team at Trafigura — Bloomberg has previously reported the departure of nickel and cobalt trading head Socrates Economou, and a senior metals trader in Mumbai, Harshdeep Bhatia.

Trafigura has said it doesn’t believe that any of its employees were complicit in what it has described as a “systematic fraud” perpetrated by Indian businessman Prateek Gupta. A spokesman for Gupta has said that he is planning a “robust response” to the allegations.

The new combined head of operations will report to Trafigura’s executive management, according to the person familiar with the matter. Trafigura’s back- and middle-office functions, such as operations, are overseen by COO Mike Wainwright.

Operations teams play a vital role for commodity trading houses like Trafigura by managing the practical logistics of buying, selling and transporting raw materials around the world. The teams coordinate shipments and inspections and ensure that the company knows where its commodities are and has the necessary paperwork. At Trafigura, the role includes responsibility for assessing and seeking to reduce logistical, credit and hedging risk, according to the company’s website.

Trafigura’s own legal filings have revealed numerous shortcomings in the company’s controls in its dealings with companies connected to Gupta.

For example, the trading house paid for cargoes of nickel based on shipping documents that contained discrepancies, such as not showing the “HS” code that is used to identify the goods being shipped. And it did not always insist on getting a “certificate of analysis,” verifying the contents of the cargoes, before paying for them.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV last week, Trafigura CEO Jeremy Weir said the company was reviewing its missteps in relation to the nickel loss. “We’re not perfect, but we’re doing a very significant audit around where we’ve come up short,” he said. “You can imagine we’re reviewing this really, really closely.”

More stories like this are available on [bloomberg.com](https://www.bloomberg.com)

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

keywords: 1201138DNT, ALLTOP, BASIC, BUSINESS, CMD, COS, FIN, INDUSTRIES, MARKETS, METMNG, NRG, OIL, TOP, WWTOP, WWTOPAM, WWTOPAS


Canonical Link:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-13/trafigura-s-head-of-metals-operations-to-leave-in-restructuring

©2022 Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved

Edited by Bloomberg

Comments

Showroom

John Thompson
John Thompson

John Thompson, the leader in energy and environmental solutions through value engineering and innovation, provides the following: design, engineer,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.142 0.179s - 114pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now