Trafigura Seeks Egypt investments as Dauphin Meets PM

Trafigura Beheer BV is weighing coal and liquefied natural gas investments in Egypt after the commodity trading firm’s chairman met with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, the country’s state-run news agency reported.

Claude Dauphin, Trafigura’s executive chairman and co-founder, met with Mahlab yesterday and discussed potential investments and possible solutions for Egypt’s troubled power grid, according to a report by Middle East News Agency.

Trafigura, the third-largest independent oil trader and second-biggest metals trader, is interested “in upgrading Egypt’s infrastructure to be able to use coal,” Dauphin is reported to have said.

While increasing carbon emissions, converting power plants to coal or building new stations that use the fuel could ease Egypt’s electricity woes. The country has been plagued by blackouts due in part to a lack of gas supplies.

Dauphin also suggested establishing a joint company to secure fueling ships and LNG supplies for Egypt’s power market, MENA said. Mahlab said his government is seeking new and renewable sources of energy and is keen to expand the use of solar and wind energy to solve the “electricity problem.”

Dauphin, 63, stepped down in March as chief executive officer of Amsterdam-based Trafigura for medical reasons. The company said in June that trading volumes in non-ferrous metals and bulk trading jumped 67 percent in the first half of the year, citing an “especially pronounced” advance in coal.

Victoria Dix, a Trafigura spokeswoman, wouldn’t comment on the Egyptian report.

Source: Bloomberg