Swiss traders emerge from fringe to grab US$10b slice of LNG market

London

SWISS trading houses are muscling in on the global market for liquefied natural gas (LNG), until now the preserve of energy giants, and are expected to grab a US$10 billion share of the rapidly growing business this year.

Trafigura, Gunvor, Vitol and Glencore are all shaking up a decades-old system dominated by Western oil majors and state energy producers which sell LNG directly to large consumers on long-term contracts.

They have planned 2017 shipments that will be more than triple the 2015 level, according to Reuters calcula…