Hin Leong debacle signals commodity financing curbs, wider oil industry losses

摘要

Singapore—Embattled Singapore oil trading firm Hin Leong Trading’s financial troubles have highlighted two key concerns amid the ongoing turmoil in commodity markets: commodity financing curbs and wider oil industry losses. Banks have been pulling back from financing oil and gas trades after the oil price crash, with credit shortages due to the coronavirus outbreak percolating into the commodity business more widely than expected. And undisclosed industry losses among commodity traders and oil companies already has run into several billions of dollars that could trigger more defaults and bankruptcies, especially among smaller traders with poor hedging and financing options.