| When Azerbaijan’s Socar Trading SA took over the storied commodity trader Phibro LLC this year, it put a stamp on a new trend: the emergence of giant state enterprises to buy and sell natural resources. Azerbaijan is not alone: Saudi Arabia, China, Oman, Thailand and Russia are also building or expanding government-owned firms to procure and market commodities directly, bypassing the traditional oil and grain traders such as Glencore Plc, Cargill Inc., Vitol Group BV and Trafigura Beheer BV.
“Countries want to secure the offtake of their production or they want to secure supplies,” Socar Trading Chief Executive Officer Arzu Azimov said in an interview. “There is a trend of national companies building trading arms.”.......................................Full Article: Source
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