Trafigura Group is making ready for a management handover to gasoline, energy and renewables head Richard Holtum as its new chief government officer, changing Jeremy Weir who will keep on as chairman of the commodity buying and selling big.
Holtum, 39, a former British military captain who joined Trafigura in 2014, has been holding conferences with the heads of various commodities and their groups at Trafigura to debate their buying and selling books with them as he prepares to step into the position, in accordance with individuals aware of the matter, who requested to not be recognized discussing personal info.
He’ll change into the third CEO in Trafigura’s 31-year historical past, after Weir took over in 2014 from founder Claude Dauphin, who remained chairman till his demise the next yr. The corporate is planning to make an announcement as quickly as subsequent week, the Monetary Occasions reported earlier.
- Advertisement -
The change comes at a time of wider flux for Trafigura, which is owned by about 1,400 of its high staff and vies with Vitol Group and Glencore Plc for the title of the world’s largest commodity dealer.
The corporate has introduced a collection of adjustments in its high ranks up to now two years, together with a serious reshuffle and the departure of a number of of its most senior executives — together with Mike Wainwright and Jose Larocca, the 2 males who alongside Weir shaped the highest management trio since Dauphin’s demise.
Holtum was little identified exterior of Trafigura and his rapid markets when Bloomberg reported in April that he was in pole place to be the following CEO as Weir was planning to hunt a successor.
Holtum joined Trafigura after a brief stint on the crude oil desk at Glencore and have become world head of LNG and gasoline in 2019. Like different merchants, the agency earned huge income from buying and selling LNG, gasoline and energy in the course of the power disaster of 2022.
He steps into his new position as Trafigura and former Chief Working Officer Wainwright put together to go on trial in December on corruption expenses in Switzerland. The case will shine a renewed gentle on allegations of wrongdoing which have stained the commodity buying and selling trade in recent times, and comes after Trafigura pleaded responsible to separate corruption expenses within the US in March. Wainwright has denied the Swiss expenses, whereas Trafigura has mentioned it’s going to defend itself in courtroom.
The corporate and its rivals are additionally adjusting to a pullback in earnings because the trade emerges from essentially the most worthwhile interval in its historical past, with the chaotic markets that merchants thrive on returning to extra regular ranges over the previous yr — notably in oil, energy and gasoline.
In its metals enterprise, Trafigura remains to be working by way of the fallout after revealing that it fell sufferer to an enormous alleged nickel fraud.
A spokesperson for Trafigura declined to remark.
Generated by readers, the feedback included herein don’t mirror the views and opinions of Rigzone. All feedback are topic to editorial evaluate. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting feedback will probably be eliminated.
MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR
Bloomberg
