Another Commodity Trader Reports Record Profits In 2022

Gunvor reported a net profit of $2.36 billion for 2022, joining other commodity trading majors and energy companies in raking in record earnings on the back of last year’s commodity rally.

Revenues stood at $150 billion, up from $106 billion a year earlier.

Earlier this month, Gunvor peer Trafigura also reported a record profit for 2022, at $7 billion. This was more than double the profit from the previous fiscal year and more than all the profits from the previous three years combined.

Glencore is also in the record-profits club after it reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization of $34.1 billion for last year. Its previous EBITDA had been $21.3 billion, according to Reuters.

In its news release, Gunvor noted the transformational effect Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had on commodity markers and how this transformation served to benefit commodity trading majors.

“Commodities traders, including Gunvor, played a key role in managing the resulting volatility, while addressing market dislocations throughout the world,” the company said.

A Hargreaves Lansdown analyst commenting on Glencore’s results in March put it more bluntly:

"Glencore's taking full advantage of a messy energy market to line its coffers and there's good news for shareholders as they get to share in the spoils."

Glencore distributed some $7.1 billion in dividends to its shareholders.

Interestingly, both Gunvor and Trafigura saw higher revenues despite lower trading volumes in energy commodities last year.

Gunvor attributed the lower trading volumes to lower natural gas trade. Trafigura said it was the results of sanctions against Russia, which led to the cancellation of long-term oil and gas trading contracts the company had with Russian producers.

Gunvor expects natural gas trading to rebound this year, the company said in the release of its results.

Bloomberg noted in a report on Gunvor’s results that the commodity trading industry had also been affected by a surge in margin calls from banks and more collateral demands from brokers amid the shakeup in global commodity markets.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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