Asia/Pacific News
Wee Tiong Addresses Singapore, Malaysia, China Physical Bunker Supply Rumours
Singapore-based commodities trader Wee Tiong (S) Pte Ltd (Wee Tiong), who recently announced it had expanded into bunkers, has addressed a number of rumours circulating in the market last week linking it to bunker supply activities in Singapore, Malaysia, and China.
Last month Wee Tiong confirmed to Ship & Bunker its interest in Malaysia-based bunker supplier Victory Supply Sdn Berhad (Victory Supply) and said at that time, contrary to some reports, a deal had not yet been concluded.
Media reports last week had suggested once again that a deal with Victory Supply had been concluded, but on Monday, KC Wong, chief operations officer (marine fuels), at Wee Tiong told Ship & Bunker that these reports were, once again, incorrect.
"The discussions with Victory Supply is still on-going and we have not acquired any part of the company at all," he said.
Also suggested in reports last week was that Wee Tiong was looking to acquire Singapore top 20 bunker supplier Searights Maritime Services Pte Ltd (Searights), but Wong said this was "even further removed from the picture."
"For complete clarity, we did not and do not have any intentions to acquire Searights," he told Ship & Bunker.
Finally, on the matter of expanding its presence in China, Wong said his company would for the time being be leveraging its position in the country only through its traders, rather than looking for a physical presence as some reports had suggested.
"With marine fuels being added as a newly commodity, we are simply expanding [our trader's] roles to include a new product to offer new clients as well," said Wong.
"Our focus will still be in trading, which is our forte, as we do not have any physical presence in China at this moment."
Last week, Ship & Bunker dispelled another Searights related rumour, with the supplier confirming that rumours circulating in the Singapore bunker market suggesting the company has filed for bankruptcy were untrue.
