French international banking group BNP Paribas SA has halted all new commodity trade finance deals while it assesses its involvement in the industry in Europe, Middle East and Africa, reports Bloomberg.
The bank has allegedly informed its clients that no new deals will be made without any contractual obligation.
BNP’s commodity trade finance department has suffered losses following the bank’s exposure to companies like energy firm GP Global Group, and coffee dealer Coex Coffee International.
During this hiatus, the bank is purportedly considering several options for the future of its specialised commodities trade department, including merging it with BNP’s broader transactions divisions or shutting it down altogether.
BNP’s move comes after Societe Generale terminated its Singapore trade commodity finance unit following its decision to cut off new credit for oil trading firms in the APAC region after Hin Leong Trading collapse.
Photo credit: Floriane Vita
Published: 6 August, 2020.
Caroline Yang, President of SSA, addresses issues earlier raised by players; including PMC No. 04, the seven-day restriction, contactless bunkering, sampling point, hose connection, and more.
IBIA Asia, ABIS, sources from Singapore’s bunkering and surveying companies, and an industry veteran share with Manifold Times the issues expected from MPA’s latest Covid-19 measures.
The top three positive movers in the 2020 bunker supplier list are Hong Lam Fuels Pte Ltd (+13); Chevron Singapore Pte Ltd (+12); and SK Energy International (+8), according to MPA list.
‘We will operate in the Singapore bunkering market from the Tokyo, with support from local staff at Sumitomo Corporation Singapore,’ source tells Manifold Times.
Changes include abolishing advance declaration of bunkers as dangerous cargo, reducing pilotage fees on vessels receiving bunkers, and a ‘whitelist’ system for bunker tankers.
Claim relates to deliveries of MGO to the vessels Pacific Diligence, Pacific Valkyrie, Pacific Defiance, Crest Alpha 1, and Pacific Warlock between March 2020 to April 2020.