日本商社能源業(yè)務(wù)重心轉(zhuǎn)向液化天然氣

Mitsui & Co, one of Japan’s largest trading companies, is shifting the focus of its energy operations from the traditional crude oil business to liquefied natural gas, on the back of growing Asian demand for cleaner fuels.

日本最大貿(mào)易公司之一三井物產(chǎn)(Mitsui & Co)正把能源業(yè)務(wù)的重心從傳統(tǒng)的原油業(yè)務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)向液化天然氣(LNG)，原因是亞洲對較清潔能源的需求不斷上升。

“We’re not that keen on liquid, we are now shifting more to gas,” Tatsuo Yasunaga, chief executive of Japan’s second-largest trading house by market capitalisation, told the Financial Times in an interview.

“我們對液態(tài)碳?xì)浠衔餂]有那么熱衷，我們正把更多重心轉(zhuǎn)向天然氣，”日本市值第二大貿(mào)易商社的社長安永龍夫(Tatsuo Yasunaga)在接受采訪時告訴英國《金融時報》。

His comments come as natural gas demand is expected to grow faster than oil or coal in the energy markets, as an increasing amount of the super-cooled fuel is shipped around the globe.

他發(fā)表此言之際，能源市場對天然氣的需求預(yù)計將比石油或者煤炭增長更快，有越來越多的超冷卻燃料在全球范圍內(nèi)運輸。

Demand for LNG elsewhere in Asia is expected to continue to increase, especially with China shutting down its coal-fired power plants and electricity generation by gas expected to rise. Government policies in other countries, as well as concerns over nuclear power, are expected to drive consumption growth over the medium to long term.

亞洲其他地方對液化天然氣的需求預(yù)計還將繼續(xù)增長，尤其是中國正在關(guān)閉燃煤電廠，而燃?xì)獍l(fā)電量預(yù)計將要上升。其他國家的政策，以及對核電的擔(dān)憂，預(yù)計將在中期至長期推動天然氣消費增長。

“Beyond 2020 we have seen lots of opportunities, and demand will be increasing significantly. Now we have to prepare the supply side,” said Mr Yasunaga.

“我們看到2020年以后會有很多機(jī)會，需求將顯著增長?，F(xiàn)在我們必須做好供應(yīng)側(cè)的準(zhǔn)備，”安永龍夫說。

Japan’s consumption of crude oil and oil products has continued to decline each year. According to the US Energy Information Administration, this is due to falling industrial output, the mandatory blending of ethanol into transportation fuel, more fuel-efficient vehicles and an ageing population leading to a declining car-driving population.

日本原油和石油產(chǎn)品消費量呈逐年下降趨勢。美國能源情報署(US Energy Information Administration)表示，這是因為日本的工業(yè)產(chǎn)出下降、強(qiáng)制要求將乙醇摻入運輸燃料、高能效車輛保有量增加，以及人口老齡化導(dǎo)致駕車人口數(shù)量降低。

Japan is the largest buyer of LNG, transported around the world on tankers. LNG demand jumped in 2012 after the Fukushima nuclear accident, and it has become the government’s primary fuel of choice for power generation due to the lower environmental impact compared with coal and oil.

日本是液化天然氣的最大買家，這些液化天然氣通過專用運輸船從世界各地運往日本。在2011年福島第一核電站事故之后，日本對液化天然氣的需求飆升，這種能源現(xiàn)已成為政府的首選發(fā)電燃料，因為它的環(huán)境影響小于煤炭和石油。

But Mr Yasunaga said Mitsui’s shift to LNG was “not about duty but about business”.

但安永龍夫表示，三井物產(chǎn)將重心轉(zhuǎn)向液化天然氣“無關(guān)義務(wù)，而是關(guān)乎生意”。

The emphasis on profit growth as a basis for investment comes as Japan’s leading trading houses, known as sogo shosha, are trying to shift away from their reliance on raw materials such as iron ore and oil. A downturn in commodity prices led to writedowns in their natural resource assets in the business year to March 2016.

注重將利潤增長作為投資依據(jù)之際，被稱為“綜合商社”(sogo shosha)的日本主要貿(mào)易商社正試圖從依賴鐵礦石和石油等原材料轉(zhuǎn)型。大宗商品的價格下滑導(dǎo)致這些公司的自然資源資產(chǎn)在截至2016年3月的財年減記。

In the past, Japanese trading houses including Mitsubishi Corp, Mitsui, Marubeni, Itochu and Sumitomo Corporation mainly procured raw materials and helped Japanese manufacturers export their products. However, with an increasing number of exporters and importers doing business directly, they turned from being the middlemen to making direct investments, using their networks and access to cheap finance.

過去，三菱(Mitsubishi Corp)、三井、丸紅(Marubeni)、伊藤忠(Itochu)和住友(Sumitomo)等日本貿(mào)易商社主要采購原材料和幫助日本制造商出口它們的產(chǎn)品。然而，隨著直接做生意的出口商和進(jìn)口商日益增多，這些貿(mào)易商社從擔(dān)當(dāng)中間商轉(zhuǎn)向直接投資，利用自身人脈和獲得廉價資金的渠道。

Before the downturn in commodity prices, the trading companies had increased their investments in assets such as mines and oil and gas projects, encouraged by the Japanese government looking to secure energy and metals for the country’s industry.

在大宗商品價格下滑之前，這些貿(mào)易商社在希望為本國工業(yè)保障能源和金屬供應(yīng)的日本政府的鼓勵下，增加了對采礦、石油和天然氣項目等資產(chǎn)的投資。

Mr Yasunaga wants to bring down the portion of net income coming from energy and metals operations to 50 per cent.

安永龍夫希望將能源和金屬業(yè)務(wù)占凈利潤的比例降低到50%。

In the year to March 2017, those businesses accounted for just under 60 per cent of overall after-tax profits.

在截至2017年3月的一年，這些業(yè)務(wù)占三井物產(chǎn)總稅后利率的比例略低于60%。