Trading

The Trading division has an ongoing focus on quality, sustainability and security of supply, and offers a broad range of fuels and biomass nationally, and coal and coke products on the global market. Customers are primarily dealers and industry and energy sector players who work professionally with heating and energy production.

- An unusual and historic year. That sums up 2022 for the Trading division. Economically, the division saw record advances on all parameters. Revenue, EBITDA and profit for the year all ended up significantly above budget expectations. The Trading division achieved its best earnings ever (since it was founded in 2003) at DKK 176 million after tax.

- The excellent result is primarily due to the Trading division’s ability to manoeuvre in a market experiencing major fluctuations in price, supply and demand. While demand for biomass declined during the year, trading in energy and industrial coal – primarily from the United States to Europe – did not lose momentum, contributing significantly to earnings. The majority of trade in the Trading division (around 60 per cent) consisted of industrial coal for industrial customers and the alloy industry – for steel and aluminium, and for further processing for use in solar cells, microchips etc.

- There were also several other developments in 2022. A new director, Peter Lønbro Lehm, was appointed in Trading, effective from 1 May. This also gave rise to a new organisation in Trading. This has allowed a stronger, sustained focus on ensuring better cohesion between Trading and its subsidiary, Carbon Partners. Process optimisation across companies and countries has been a major focal point. Efforts have been made to develop a stronger, common system landscape to support optimisation, automation and reporting. This work will continue in 2023.

- Trading has for many years bound itself and its suppliers to fulfil international requirements for sustainability, documentation and certifications. Trading set a new and more ambitious goal in 2022. A Code of Conduct was formulated for Carbon Partners and Verdo Trading, to ensure responsibility towards the climate, environment and people throughout the supply chain – from extraction to delivery. The new Code of Conduct will be introduced in the Trading division during 2023.

- Another key impact during the year was that Trading halted all trade with Russia on 2 March, following the outbreak of war against Ukraine. Instead of buying Russian fuel, Trading has successfully intensified sourcing work in regions like the Baltics, without compromising on certification requirements. Trading has built up stocks in Riga and Liepaja.

RATIOS: Trading

The table covers: Verdo Trading A/S and Carbon Partners AS (incl. subsidiary Carbon Partners Inc.)

- A well-developed sourcing network also made it possible to ship 32,000 tonnes of certified wood pellets to Denmark from USA. This was Trading’s largest shipment of wood pellets ever, and it was arranged in October to counter the increasing pressure on the wood pellet market in Denmark at the time. The strong sales and sourcing work is one reason why the financial statements for 2023 are expected to be positive. However, the historical result for 2022 is unlikely to be surpassed.