Trader ECTP to shutter Russia, Ukraine origination business

Trading house Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners (ECTP) is to exit the Russia and Ukraine grain and oilseed origination business to focus on Brazil origin and Asian destination markets, well-placed sources told Agricensus Thursday.

ECTP, which is part-owned by Brazilian finance house BTG Pactual, will shut its Kyiv and Krasnodar office while its Geneva office will focus on destination markets, freight and futures trading, said sources with knowledge of the matter.

The exit from origination in Russia and Ukraine is thought to be a strategic move and not thought to be a performance-related issue.

It comes just a few weeks after the company closed its Buenos Aires office.

“It’s business as usual at the moment. There is some talk of running the book down by January, but there are commercial agreements and transactions that will be worked through in an orderly manner,” the source said.

ECTP was established in 2013 and spun out of BTG Pactual in 2016.

Its mission was to fill the void in physical commodity trading after investment banks exited the space earlier this decade.

The company operates in four broad sectors: energy, softs, metals, and grains and oilseeds.

It exited the physical trade of energy, most metals, and cotton trading in the past two years.

In an interview with Bloomberg News earlier this year, the company's chairman, Huw Jenkins, said he expected the company to be profitable this year after losing $500 million over the past three years.