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Trafigura Group Pte.

TPTE

Founded in 1993, the Trafigura Group has become one of the world’s leading independent commodity traders, specialising in the oil, minerals and metals markets.

Lobbying Activity

Response to Sustainability requirements for batteries

5 Feb 2019

Trafigura supports the promotion of EU requirements for “sustainable batteries” and, more particularly, “the ethical sourcing of raw materials for the production of batteries”. Trafigura supports in particular ‘Option 5’ in the EU roadmap and welcomes further efforts to ensure ethical sourcing of raw materials for the production of batteries. This will require minimum standards for which OECD Guidance provides an important foundation. We assert that, in order to support the 2015 Paris Accord, rapid market growth of the battery industry is required to satisfy future needs. However, substantive and urgent efforts need to be taken in tandem to ensure that materials such as cobalt and copper - essential for this revolution to take place - are sourced responsibly. The cobalt supply chain is complex and long. Regardless of whether activities take place inside or outside the EU, the supply chain must benefit from high operational standards. Furthermore, the supply chain should fundamentally promote sustainable growth – particularly for the inhabitants of producer nations. There is no greater manifestation of pressure on the cobalt supply chain than in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – a country that accounts for two-thirds of global production. Most of the DRC’s industrialised extraction is controlled by a handful of companies; 80 percent of its exports go to Chinese refiners. It also has a large artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector, which contributes to at least 20 percent, perhaps as much as 40 percent, of total cobalt production. Exact numbers are unknown but it is thought to employ as many as 200,000 or more miners, many of whom work with basic tools in tough unsafe conditions. Trafigura trades a full range of commodities – from crude oil and refined products to metals and minerals. The company owns in part or in full a number of significant operational assets such as Terrafame Ltd., a multi-metal company producing nickel, zinc, cobalt and copper at its mine and metals production plant located in Sotkamo, Finland, as well as the Minas de Aguas Teñidas (MATSA) copper mine in the province of Huelva, Spain. We have seen a substantial growth in demand from our industry partners for ‘responsibly sourced’ materials. In response, we advocate i) for the mandatory application of the OECD’s ‘Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas’ (OECD Guidance) to the cobalt supply chain and ii) the development of progressive and practical guidance for the responsible sourcing of cobalt from the ASM sector. With current technology, there is no realistic alternative to more cobalt. Trafigura proposes that the required rapid growth in global demand cannot be satisfied without a sustainable and legitimate ASM sector. Legitimacy has to be underpinned by legality. Engaging with this reality must be the priority for producers, traders and refiners as they seek to meet evolving market needs. Informed by OECD Guidance, the globally recognised due diligence standard, Trafigura is currently working together with the NGO PACT in the DRC to create opportunities for ASM cobalt producers. For more information in this regard please refer to our 2018 Responsibility Report or a discussion document in relation to ‘Responsible sourcing in the electric vehicle battery supply chain’, produced by Trafigura in 2018 (both available on our website). Such opportunities centre on the progression from informal and unregulated activities towards semi-mechanised safe mining. At an industry level, our efforts to develop meaningful and practical guidance for the responsible sourcing of cobalt from the ASM sector are supported by our engagement with the World Economic Forum’s ‘Global Battery Alliance’. Trafigura welcomes to the opportunity to work together with the EU and others to deliver on its objective of a responsible supply chain.
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Meeting with Bernd Biervert (Cabinet of Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič)

6 Dec 2018 · LNG Strategy, European Battery Alliance

Meeting with Dominique Ristori (Director-General Energy) and Hill Knowlton International Belgium

25 Oct 2018 · energy policy

Meeting with Dominique Ristori (Director-General Energy)

12 Feb 2018 · Energy policy

Meeting with Miguel Ceballos Baron (Cabinet of Vice-President Cecilia Malmström) and Afore Consulting and Llewellyn Consulting LLP

29 Nov 2016 · Trade financing

Meeting with Dominique Ristori (Director-General Energy)

10 Oct 2016 · Energy policy

Meeting with Dominique Ristori (Director-General Energy) and Hill Knowlton International Belgium

7 Jun 2016 · Energy policy

Meeting with Dominique Ristori (Director-General Energy) and Hill Knowlton International Belgium

20 Apr 2016 · Energy policy

Meeting with Bernd Biervert (Cabinet of Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič)

7 Jan 2016 · EU - Russia relations

Meeting with Joachim Balke (Cabinet of Vice-President Miguel Arias Cañete), Maria Cristina Lobillo Borrero (Cabinet of Vice-President Miguel Arias Cañete)

15 Sept 2015 · LNG

Meeting with Dominique Ristori (Director-General Energy)

4 Sept 2015 · Oil market

Meeting with Bernd Biervert (Cabinet of Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič)

17 Jul 2015 · Presentation of Trafigura

Meeting with Dominique Ristori (Director-General Energy)

17 Jul 2015 · Oil market

Meeting with Maria Cristina Lobillo Borrero (Cabinet of Vice-President Miguel Arias Cañete), Silvia Bartolini (Cabinet of Vice-President Miguel Arias Cañete)

24 Feb 2015 · EU policy on LNG