Trading sources told Reuters the demise of Denmark’s OW, which filed for bankruptcy in November, has provided Mercuria with a chance to beef up its business two months after it bought the physical commodities unit of JPMorgan Chase for $800m.

Mercuria’s existing bunker operations specialise in trading cargoes of around 20,000 tonnes.

It has deployed 17 ex-OW people in northern Asia to launch a new ship fuel business, according to one new member of staff.

The