大宗商品交易商10年净赚2500亿美元

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大宗商品交易商10年净赚2500亿美元

天之聪教育 2013-04-16 天之聪教育 396次

大宗商品交易商10年净赚2500亿美元

Traders reap $250bn harvest from boom in commodities

The world’s top commodities traders have pocketed nearly $250bn over the past decade, highlighting how the individuals and families that control the largely privately owned sector have benefited from the rise of China and other emerging countries.

世界顶级大宗商品交易商在过去10年里盈利近2500亿美元，突显控制着这个以私有企业为主的行业的个人和家族，如何得益于中国和其它新兴国家的崛起。

The net income of the largest trading houses since 2003 surpasses that of the combination of mighty Wall Street banks Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, or that of an industrial giant such as General Electric. They made more money than Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford Motor, BMW and Renault put together.

自2003年以来，各大交易商的净利润超过了强大的华尔街银行高盛(Goldman Sachs)、摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)和摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)的净利润之和，也超过了通用电气(General Electric)这样的工业巨擘。它们的净利润也高过丰田(Toyota)、大众(Volkswagen)、福特汽车(Ford Motor)、宝马(BMW)和雷诺(Renault)的净利润之和。

A review by the Financial Times of thousands of pages of companies filings and non-public documents marks the first comprehensive account of the industry. The revelation of traders’ profitability will heighten calls for greater transparency from an industry that, although central to the global economy, is little understood and largely unregulated.

英国《金融时报》对数千页公司申报材料和非公开文件的研究，标志着首次全面揭开该行业的面纱。交易商的盈利能力公诸于世，将加强各方要求这一行业提高透明度的呼声。尽管该行业在全球经济中扮演着中心角色，但该行业基本上不受监管，也很少有人了解其如何运作。

They rode the commodities supercycle caused by the industrialisation of China and other emerging countries. The supercycle not only boosted commodities trading volumes, but also lifted the profitability of the groups’ investments in oilfields, mines and farmland.

它们利用了中国和其它新兴国家工业化所引发的大宗商品超级周期。这一超级周期不仅提振了大宗商品的交易量，还增强了各集团油田、矿山和农地投资的盈利能力。

However, the review has also found that the industry is facing strong headwinds. Aggregate profit growth has stalled and measures of profitability are dropping year-on-year.

不过，这项研究也发现，该行业正面临强劲逆风。整体利润增长已陷入停滞，衡量盈利能力的指标出现同比下降。

The world’s top 20 physical commodities trading houses last year made $33.5bn, little different from net income levels over the past five years.

全球20大实物大宗商品交易商去年利润达到335亿美元，与过去5年期间的净利润水平相差无几。

The industry, which includes houses such as Glencore, Cargill, Vitol, Trafigura and Mitsubishi, is a vital nexus between producers and consumers of raw materials as diverse as oil, copper and wheat. Though some companies are listed publicly and disclose financial data, most are held privately and in some cases have never published profit numbers.

该行业包括嘉能可(Glencore)，嘉吉(Cargill)、维多(Vitol)、托克(Trafigura)和三菱(Mitsubishi)等大型交易商，它们是原材料（无论是石油、铜，还是小麦）生产者和消费者之间的关键纽带。虽然某些公司已上市，披露财务数据，但多数企业是私有的，其中有些企业从不发布利润数据。

The documents – including filings in commercial registries from the Virgin Islands to Singapore, and confidential memos to bankers – suggest the industry is facing a slowdown as the global economy weakens and the growth of commodities trade slows. Further, the market has become more transparent and competition has risen.

研究的文件——包括维京群岛和新加坡商业登记处的申报材料，以及发给银行家的机密备忘录——似乎表明，随着全球经济趋弱，大宗商品交易增长减速，该行业正面临放缓。此外，市场已变得更为透明，竞争有所加剧。

The slowdown in profit growth is remarkable, if uneven. While net income at some traders, such as Louis Dreyfus Commodities, continues to grow, others face a harder time. Net profit at Vitol, the largest oil trader, fell last year to $1.05bn, its lowest since 2004.

利润增长的减速令人瞩目，尽管这种减速的分布并不均匀。路易达孚商品(Louis Dreyfus Commodities) 等交易商的净利润仍在增长，但其它交易商面临更艰难的形势。全球最大石油交易商维多的净利润去年跌至10.5亿美元，这是2004年以来的最低位。

Return on equity – a measure of profitability – has dropped. While some groups enjoyed returns in excess of 50-60 per cent in the mid-2000s, they now average 20-30 per cent – though that is still high by any standard.

股本回报率——盈利能力的一种衡量标准——出现下降。尽管一些集团在本世纪头10年中期的股本回报率高达50%至60%，但现在它们的平均股本回报率为20%至30%，尽管按照通常标准这种回报率仍是相当高的。

“The commodities market is becoming more and more competitive,” said Torbjörn Törnqvist, chief executive of oil trader Gunvor. “The industry won’t see the massive return on equity it enjoyed in the past.”

“大宗商品市场正变得越来越竞争激烈，”石油交易商贡沃尔(Gunvor)的首席执行官托尔比约恩•特恩奎斯特(Torbjörn Törnqvist)表示。“行业不会再看到以往那种巨大的股本回报率。”

Glencore’s return on equity, excluding exceptional items, fell in 2012 to just 9.7 per cent, sharply down from the peak of 61 per cent during the 2000s.

嘉能可的股本回报率（不包括特殊项目）在2012年跌至仅9.7%，远低于本世纪头10年期间曾经达到的61%峰值。

Yet, despite profit growth stalling and the fall in equity return, the sector is still hugely profitable. The heads of some trading houses – including Glencore’s Ivan Glasenberg, Richard Elman of Noble Group and Claude Dauphin of Trafigura – have became billionaires while the wealth of families behind Cargill and others has risen enormously.

然而，尽管利润增长停滞，股本回报率下降，但该行业仍是极为有利可图的。一些交易商的掌门人——包括嘉能可的伊凡•格拉森伯格(Ivan Glasenberg)、来宝集团(Noble Group)的艾礼文(Richard Elman)以及托克的克劳德•多芬(Claude Dauphin)——都获得了亿万身家，而嘉吉等其它交易商背后的家族的财富也大幅上升。