The heads of Trafigura's dry and wet shipping divisions answered almost in unison when asked what they have learned during 2020: "Black swans come in flocks!"

Alan Cumming, head of dry freight shipping at the trading giant, said the firm this year realised the value of something it already does well: "attention to detail".

"Managing positions, being strict with limits — there's a lot of ownership of your own P&L [profit and loss], your own position and your own business," he said.

"I think one of the things we've probably learned this year is the benefit of that, because there were some enormous moves on fuel, on different trade patterns, quarantines.

"Having people who are actually paying attention to detail [on] what they do has paid dividends."

Andrea Olivi, Trafigura's head of wet freight shipping, said key to his desk's success in 2020 was its bunkering arm, TFG Marine, which is a joint venture with two John Fredriksen-controlled companies.

"Their best-in-class bunkering expertise helped us minimise waiting time for bunkering, reducing the risk of having off-spec bunkers and allowing us to secure cheaper-than-market prices," Olivi said.

TFG Marine, which began operations in early 2020, is 75% owned by Trafigura, 15% by Frontline and 10% by Golden Ocean.

The bunkering venture is now eyeing further growth after expanding rapidly this year, as TradeWinds has reported.

Greater focus

This year, Olivi said Trafigura devoted an even bigger focus to digitalising and decarbonising its shipping activities.

"In terms of the future and where we are going, over the coming one, two or three years, I think digitalisation and decarbonisation of shipping are going to become more and more important," he said. "We're starting to focus more and more on on this."

In particular, he said Trafigura is starting to pay "a lot" of attention to managing and reporting the greenhouse gases it emits directly and those it generates indirectly when other parties fulfil services on its behalf, such as shipping.

"At the same time, we're spending more time focusing on advanced maritime analytics, which again goes back to the discussions we had around data," Olivi said.