Golden Stena Weco opens office in Singapore
Last week the shipping company Golden Stena Weco opened its office in Golden Agri Plaza in Singapore. Golden Stena Weco is a joint venture between Stena Weco and the Indonesian palm oil producer Golden Agri-Resources (GAR). Initially, the joint office will have a staff of eight working in operation, chartering and trading.
Stena Weco currently transports approx. 2.5 million tons of palm oil per year with 50,000 dwt MR tankers and two of Concordia Maritime’s converted P-MAX tankers.
The collaboration within the joint venture gives access to the Asian market and to extensive business in the area.
“The closeness to GAR’s traders in our new joint office gives us direct contact with the palm oil market. The collaboration will generate synergies for both Stena Weco and GAR. We know shipping and they have the cargoes”, says Erik Hånell, MD of Stena Weco.
In June this year, Stena ordered six 50,000 dwt chemical tankers from the Chinese shipyard Guangzhou Shipbuilding International for delivery in 2014 and 2015, together with an option on a further six units. These vessels will be integrated in Stena Weco’s transport system.
Focus on sustainability
Golden Agri focuses heavily on sustainability with high environmental demands placed on its operations and certification of its palm oil cargoes. It seeks to collaborate with multi-stakeholders including environmental NGOs to find solutions for sustainable palm oil.
“For Stena Weco, it’s very important that GAR works actively on environmental demands concerning the extraction of palm oil, as well as its business as a whole. We ourselves are working hard on research and development relating to our technology and our transportation. Consequently, we consider GAR’s investments in sustainability to be extremely important”, Erik Hånell adds.
Stena Weco, which was formed at the beginning of 2011, is owned equally by the tanker shipping company Stena Bulk and Danish Dannebrog, each with 50 percent. The shipping company specialises in the transportation of vegetable oils and chemicals and is one of the largest cargo carriers between Asia and Europe. About eight million tons of the total of 45 million tons of palm oil produced globally per year is transported from South East Asia to Europe. Stena Weco has a large share of this trade.
GAR is the world’s second largest palm oil plantation company with a total planted area of 457,040 hectares (including smallholders) as at 30 June 2012, located in Indonesia. It has integrated operations focused on the production of palm-based edible oil and fat.
Founded in 1996, GAR is listed on the Singapore Exchange since 1999 with a market capitalisation of US$7.6 billion as at 31 July 2012. Flambo International Limited, an investment company, is GAR’s largest shareholder, with a 49.95% stake. GAR has several subsidiaries, including PT SMART Tbk which is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange since 1992.
GAR is focused on sustainable palm oil production. In Indonesia, its primary activities include cultivating and harvesting of oil palm trees; processing of fresh fruit bunch into crude palm oil (“CPO”) and palm kernel; and refining CPO into value-added products such as cooking oil, margarine and shortening. It also has integrated operations in China including a deep-sea port, oilseeds crushing plants, production capabilities for refined edible oil products as well as other food products such as noodles.
For more information, contact
Erik Hånell
MD, Stena Weco
Phone: +46 31 855 002
Mobile: +46 704 855 002
erik.hanell@stenaweco.com