Vitol’s profit at the end of 2023 amounted to $13 billion – Kommersant

Swiss-Dutch commodity trader Vitol ended 2023 with a net profit of $13 billion, reports Financial Times with reference to own sources.

This amount is almost 14% less than in 2022, however, it is more than three times the company’s profit at the end of 2021.

The sharp rise in profits in 2022, to a record $15.1 billion, was associated with a jump in commodity prices after the outbreak of military conflict in Ukraine in the spring of that year. Energy prices have fallen slightly in 2023, but the ongoing special military operation by Russian troops and the war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas are seriously affecting the delivery of goods around the world.

As noted in report Vitol last month, the above military conflicts led to record high volumes of petroleum products transported by sea. Due to lower prices for raw materials, Vitol’s turnover decreased at the end of the year from $505 billion to $400 billion. However, the company’s energy supplies increased by 4%, to 546 million tons, primarily due to increased supplies of gas and LNG. At the same time, supplies of oil and petroleum products decreased slightly (by 1.6%), to 7.3 million barrels per day.

Vitol, being a private company, does not publish financial statements. It remains the world’s largest commodity trader by profit. Thus, its closest pursuer Trafigura completed the 2023 financial year (ended September 31 last year) with a net profit of $7.2 billion. Gunvor’s profit amounted to $1.3 billion at the end of last year.

Kirill Sarkhanyants