World’s top energy trader Vitol eyes metals as oil demand set to peak
CEO Hardy points to iron ore, copper, and aluminum as potential markets.
Vitol Group has agreed to buy the last remaining piece of fallen Asian commodity trader Noble, as the energy trading giant recycles its blockbuster profits to go on an acquisition spree.
Vitol will pay $208.9 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis, Noble Resources said in a statement on Friday. The deal is expected to close this year, Vitol said earlier.
The move will expand Vitol’s thermal coal business and also give it a major position in the niche market supplying coke to steelmakers. Noble describes itself as having a “dominant share of the global seaborne metallurgical coke trade,” while Vitol last year hired a trader for iron ore — the key raw material needed to make steel — as part of a plan to break into the metals business.
After enjoying the most profitable period in commodity trading history thanks to the wild price swings driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Vitol has been ploughing some of the windfall into acquisitions and new business lines. The trading company — which has recorded profits of more than $28 billion in the past two years — has struck deals for Italian refiner Saras SpA and fuel stations in Turkey and South Africa.
Coal remains the main source of global power generation, despite efforts by many government to curb emissions. The capacity of coal-fired electricity reached a record last year on new plants in China and a slowdown in retirements in Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That has made trading of the fuel attractive for companies that aren’t under pressure to jettison dirty assets.
Vitol has long traded coal, but the commodity is an also-ran compared to its vast oil, gas and power businesses. Just $1.9 billion of Vitol’s $401.9 billion in revenues last year came from coal, according to its accounts, compared to total revenues for Noble of $3.6 billion. Noble Resources’ coal portfolio includes supply from Indonesia and Australia, and it handles more than 35 million tons per year, according to its website.
The deal marks the final chapter in the saga of Noble’s decline and fall. Once Asia’s largest commodity trader with a market value of more than $10 billion, Noble Group was forced to restructure after years of losses and accusations of improper accounting.
It carried out multibillion dollar asset sales — including the 2018 sale of most of its oil business to Vitol — and, after a lengthy investigation, in 2022 was issued with a record fine by Singaporean authorities for publishing misleading information.
The sale price of $208.9 million — or $274.3 million including cash and debt adjustments — compares to Noble’s most recently reported book value of $311 million, and to adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $140 million last year.
Commodity traders, which are mostly privately held, have been slower to move away from coal than some other players in the energy industry. Vitol’s London-listed rival Glencore Plc will announce whether it plans to spin off its coal business next week. Several of the company’s largest shareholders believe it should retain the assets, Bloomberg reported in April.
(By Stephen Stapczynski, Alfred Cang and Jack Farchy)
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