New Bunker Joint Venture in Southern Africa

05.02.2010 - Hamburg/Cape Town:

Yesterday, Matrix Marine Holding GmbH (Matrix) has joined hands with Calulo Services (Pty) Ltd. (Calulo) for offering bunker fuels and lubricants in Southern Africa under the name of Matrix Kepu Bunkers.

Mr Mpho Diale, Group CEO of Calulo, and Mr Stefan Herde, Managing Director of Matrix, signed the Joint Venture Agreement at a festive ceremony in South Africa’s most important bunker port Durban.

Matrix Kepu will be a leading BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) supplier of bunker fuels and lubricants in South Africa. The Joint Venture will be based in Cape Town and will offer high quality bunker services in major ports of South Africa such as Durban, Richards Bay and Cape Town, initially. A further expansion to surrounding countries like Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania is planned. In the near future supplies offshore East and West Africa and Indian Ocean islands are envisaged.

Mr Diale stated on the occasion that Southern Africa has recently seen increasing vessel traffic and bunker demand and with an experienced and well reputed partner such as Matrix, the Joint Venture can bring a new spirit to the market with an unmatched level of service to the customers.

Mr Herde added that it is an important step for Matrix to grow from a local to a global supplier of high quality bunker services. In Kepu they found an excellent partner with detailed knowledge about the market not only in South Africa, but also beyond.

Matrix is a subsidiary of Mabanaft, the trading division of Marquard & Bahls, Hamburg, a leading independent petroleum company, privately owned. The business encompasses physical delivery of marine fuels in Houston, Singapore, India and soon Oman. Furthermore, Mabanaft is active in international trading of petroleum products, service stations, heating-oil retail, lubricants, and biofuels. Through its subsidiaries and representative offices, Mabanaft is well positioned in all important regions worldwide.

Calulo Services is part of the Calulo Investments Group with various interests in the Southern African oil and shipping industries. Through its 100% subsidiary Kepu Trading, Calulo is already active in the domestic bunker market in South Africa with a presence in 14 ports.

For more information on Matrix, Mabanaft, Calulo and Kepu please visit www.matrixmarine.com, www.mabanaft.com, www.calulo.co.za & www.kepu.co.za.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Kevin Balke
Commercial Manager
Mabanaft GmbH & Co. KG
Tel: + 49-40-37 0045 56
kevin.balke@mabanaft.com

or

Roy Meeser
General Manager
Kepu Trading (Pty) Ltd
+27 21 440 53 40 / +27 82 494 3783
roy@kepu.co.za