New company will specialise in trading and risk management of petrochemicals and derivatives

17-Feb-16

Afco Energy, which trades physical energy products such as fuel oil, petrol, jet fuel and liquid petroleum gas, opens its new unit, Afco Petrochemicals in Singapore, as per The Strait Times. The company will specialise in the trading and risk management of petrochemical products and derivatives, including paraxylene and benzene. Managing director Lim Fang Wei is unfazed by the slowdown in demand worldwide. He added that the company aims to "eventually go global". "Demand for petrochemicals has come off, but we still need to eat, we still need to consume, and personal consumption drives the demand for petrochemicals," he told The Straits Times, adding "Consumption for petrochemicals will keep pace, though at a slower rate, but there will still be growth," he said, citing opportunities in China, India, the Middle East and some parts of South-east Asia. Mr Ali Nael, managing director of parent company Afco Energy, the global trading subsidiary of Dutch oil company FinCo Fuel Holdings, said in a statement: "We want to take advantage of the market inefficiencies resulting from the consolidation of the energy industry and flux in the restructuring of national economies. "Such broad changes will open the doors for Afco Petrochemicals which, though newly set up, is managed by experienced traders widely respected in the petrochemical industry."