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Oil hedging specialist A/S Global Risk Management Ltd. says that the steady increase in bunker sales in Singapore over the past year has also has a positive effect on the performance of its Singapore branch.

"The major ship owners and suppliers are represented in Singapore. Many of them have come to realise that hedging of the fuel price risk can be a competitive advantage as well as a way to secure the budget´, said Morten Rudebeck Henriksen, Sales Director at Global Risk's Singapore branch.

"With a proper hedging strategy it is possible to avoid the risk of oil price increases as well as protection against inflation, currency exchange rate changes, interest rate changes, etc. The trend we have seen lately is that our clients prefer partnerships based on supply contracts where part of the fuel is purchased on fixed price agreement and part of the fuel is purchased on floating Platts formula and only a minor part is bought on the spot market. The advantages of this strategy are - among others - reduced paper work and increased supply security," added Henriksen.

Global Risk's presence in Singapore is part of the company's strategy of staying close to its customers in various time zones and, since its launch in 2008, the branch office has increased its customer base considerably.

"The branch office is definitely a strategic advantage to our business," said Henriksen. "The recent SIBCON conference in Singapore with over 1,100 delegates from over 50 countries is convincing us that our presence is essential. The port of Singapore is one of the five busiest in the world - we enjoy the high level of activity in Singapore - both physically and as regards trading. In May this year we had to move to larger office premises closer to the port. The increased activity entails the need for an experienced Oil Risk Manager to the office," Henriksen commented.

Recently, Oil Risk Manager Caner Seren Varol moved from Global Risk's main office in Middelfart, Denmark, to the Singapore branch in order to support and increase the company's customer base even further.