Monjasa Moves into Oil Trading

Monjasa says it is expanding its business to include oil trading and will be opening a new office in London to coordinate the new activities.

Monjasa Group (Monjasa) announced Monday that it is expanding its business, which currently consists of global shipping and bunkering, to include oil trading.

Monjasa says it will be opening a new office in London, UK from which to coordinate the new activities.

The new endevour will led by Harry Thwaites, joining Monjasa with the global responsibility for developing Monjasa's oil trading activities as the company's Head of Oil Trading.
 
Thwaites is said to come from a senior trading position in Trafigura Beheer BV (Trafigura) and has been working out of London, Geneva, and Singapore for the past decade.

"I am thrilled to be joining Monjasa at this exciting stage in its development," said Thwaites.

"The company has grown remarkably since its inception and the launch of the new oil trading division will bring increased value to customers, while expanding Monjasa's global reach beyond its core business."  
 
Anders Østergaard, CEO of the Monjasa Group, commented on the company's expansion into oil trading, saying, "for quite some time now, we have felt a strong wish to move further across the value chain and into oil trading."

"Right now, our core-business includes bunkering services and physical supply, terminal operations, agency, and ship-owning activities on a global level. However, we still hold great ambitions.

"With our new finance structure, we are able to finally start moving own oil parcels, partly to our own operations, but also to third parties across the globe."
 
Monjasa says it expects the oil trading desk to expand rapidly, meaning a hiring campaign is imminent.

"Engaging in oil trading requires a solid determination on combining distribution, compliance and delivery.

"Monjasa has invested heavily in specialists within responsible risk management, finance and international law and this has given us the ability to enter this market, where clients, more than ever, require a determined focus on transparency in these transactions," said Østergaard.
 
The new London office will reportedly be ready in early 2016 with all oil trading activities in the interim coordinated out of Monjasa's Singapore office. 

At the beginning of June it was reported that Monjasa, despite "tough market conditions", saw a 16 percent increase in revenue to DKK 14.2 billion (USD 2.1 billion) for 2014, compared to DKK 11.9 billion (USD 1.8 billion) in 2013.