Gapuma Group Acquires Equity Stake in Tri-Chem Trading, an Emerging Force in South African Chemical Distribution
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 26 June 2026 London / Johannesburg, South Africa – 26 June 2026 Gapuma Group, the London-based multinational commodities company serving customers through its warehousing and distribution network, today announces the acquisition of an equity stake in Tri-Chem Trading (Pty) Ltd, a fast-growing South African importer, exporter, trader and distributor of commodity and specialty chemicals. Tri-Chem’s founding leadership retains its stake and continues to run the business. The partnership extends Gapuma’s strategy of building durable, operational businesses across the African continent, and brings the Group’s global sourcing and supply chain infrastructure to one of the region’s most dynamic chemical distribution markets. Tri-Chem Trading serves South Africa and the broader African market, supplying commodity and specialty chemicals across mining, coatings, industrial, water treatment, manufacturing and agriculture. Its leadership brings 35 years of combined industry experience, with established supplier networks, long-term customer relationships and a reputation for commercial excellence. The business is built on reliable and cost-effective sourcing, strategic distribution and end-to-end supply chain support. Jack Bardakjian, Founder and CEO of Gapuma Group, said: “Tri-Chem has built something with real momentum: the right supplier relationships, the right customer base and a clear, disciplined approach to a competitive market. Our role is not to change what works, but to give the team the sourcing depth, supply chain infrastructure and financial backing to grow faster and serve customers better. This is precisely the kind of partnership we look for in Africa.” Chris Arnison, Founder and Director of Tri-Chem Trading, said: “This partnership strengthens everything we set out to build. Gapuma’s international supply agreements, manufacturing networks and market intelligence complement our knowledge of the South African and African markets. Together we can secure more competitive supply, expand sustainably across the continent and bring greater value and opportunity to our clients.” The investment strengthens Tri-Chem’s financial stability and growth capacity, enhances its access to competitive international supply agreements, and supports sustainable expansion across African markets. Gapuma brings to the partnership its global sourcing network, spanning more than 50 countries, and its established expertise in procurement, logistics and supplier development across Africa, Asia and Europe. Current management and staff remain fully in place. Day-to-day operations continue under the same leadership, with planned growth in commercial and technical capabilities to follow. About Gapuma Group Founded in London in 1999, Gapuma Group is an award-winning sourcing, procurement and logistics specialist with global reach. The Group sources products from more than 30 countries and delivers to over 50 countries worldwide, with particular depth of experience across Africa. Operating from its London headquarters, Gapuma serves clients across multiple sectors, including industrial, chemical, agricultural and energy, managing every link in the global supply chain from procurement and finance to logistics and final delivery. www.gapuma.com About Tri-Chem Trading (Pty) Ltd Tri-Chem Trading (Pty) Ltd is a South African-based importer, exporter, trader and distributor of commodity and specialty chemicals, serving South Africa and the broader African market. The company focuses on reliable and cost-effective sourcing, strategic distribution, end-to-end supply chain support and long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. It serves the mining, coatings, industrial, water treatment, manufacturing and agriculture sectors, with leadership drawing on 35 years of combined industry experience. www.trichemtrading.co.za For media enquiries: Gapuma Group Limited – shahab@gapuma.com
Coatings For Africa 2026: Gapuma Returns to Johannesburg
24 June 2026 The doors are open. Coatings For Africa 2026 begins today at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, and Gapuma Group is here, on the floor, exhibiting for a second time at Southern Africa’s largest gathering of the coatings industry. Held in association with the South African Paint Manufacturing Association (SAPMA), the event runs from today, 24 June, through to 26 June, bringing together more than 150 exhibiting brands from over 15 countries. For three days it becomes the place where the industry does business: manufacturers, raw material suppliers, distributors, buyers and technical specialists such as chemists and formulators, all under one roof, meeting face to face. We are here in force. Our delegation is led by Group Managing Director Jack Bardakjian and Operations Director Stephen Harris, alongside our full South Africa team, including Gary Hayes and Dave Steward. Their presence reflects the importance we place on this market and on the relationships that underpin our work across the region. The timing could not be sharper. Southern Africa’s paint and coatings market, valued at around USD 770 million, is forecast to grow steadily through 2031, driven by construction activity, infrastructure investment and rising demand for more sustainable coating technologies. Running alongside the exhibition, ChemTalks opens today too, with a focused programme spanning regulation, formulation and the latest technical innovation. For everyone working within coatings, this is the moment to gather insight, exchange ideas with industry leaders, explore new opportunities and forge stronger relationships across the region. We are on the floor now. If you are here in Johannesburg, come and find us.
A Toast to UK–Serbia Friendship: Gapuma at the King’s Birthday Party in Belgrade
19 June 2026 Gapuma Group is proud to have sponsored the King’s Birthday Party hosted by the British Embassy in Belgrade – a splendid garden reception bringing together figures from across government, business and the diplomatic community to celebrate the warm and enduring friendship between the United Kingdom and Serbia. It was a privilege to support the evening alongside a distinguished group of fellow sponsors, among them AstraZeneca, Range Rover, Chivas Regal, Frikom, Harrisons, Menzies Aviation and Delta DMD, the leading Serbian distributor of fast-moving consumer goods. Good company, in every sense. The evening offered a welcome reminder that trade and diplomacy move in step. Serbia continues to position itself as a dynamic hub at the crossroads of Central and South-Eastern Europe, and the United Kingdom remains a natural partner in that ambition – in commerce, in investment and in the exchange of ideas that underpins any lasting relationship between two nations. As a commodities trading company with a genuinely international footprint, Gapuma has long understood that strong bilateral ties are not an abstraction. They are built reception by reception, conversation by conversation, and partnership by partnership. Jack Bardakjian, Group Managing Director of Gapuma Group, said: “Gapuma takes great pride in being associated with the promotion and strengthening of bilateral ties between the United Kingdom and Serbia. Relationships of this kind open doors – for business, for communities and for the next generation of partnerships – and we are delighted to lend our support to an occasion that celebrates everything the two countries can achieve together.” Our thanks go to His Majesty’s Ambassador, Edward Ferguson, and the embassy team for their warm hospitality, and to everyone who joined us in raising a glass to a partnership with a long future ahead. See a video of the festivities here
Gapuma at Chevron Oronite’s 2026 Distributors Seminar
Among the few: Gapuma at Chevron Oronite’s 2026 Distributors Seminar 18 June 2026 GLB Chemical Services Limited, Gapuma Group’s Nigerian subsidiary, was represented at the 2026 Sales Representatives and Distributors Seminar at Chevron Oronite in Paris earlier this month. Prakash Ramchandani, Managing Director of GLB, and Thompson Longe attended on Gapuma’s behalf. The seminar brought together Chevron Oronite’s distribution network for three days of technical exchange and strategic dialogue. For GLB, appointed Chevron Oronite’s authorised distributor in Nigeria in 2020, these gatherings remain central to a partnership now in its sixth year, one strengthened further in 2025 with Gapuma’s selection as Chevron’s Group II base oils distributor in the Nigerian market. The programme also included a visit to Chevron Oronite’s plant at Le Havre, where a newly constructed, fully automated warehouse has been brought into operation. The facility holds up to 8,200 pallets, a clear signal of the scale and sophistication underpinning Oronite’s European supply chain. Our thanks to the Chevron Oronite team in Paris and Le Havre, among them Eric De Goustine and Daren Barnes, for their hospitality and for another valuable opportunity to deepen a relationship built on technical excellence and shared commitment to the Nigerian market.
Gapuma breaks into the world’s Top 100 chemical distributors
17 June 2026 Gapuma Group has been named among the world’s leading chemical distributors in the 2026 ICIS Top 100. Published by ICIS (Independent Commodity Intelligence Services), the Top 100 Chemical Distributors is the definitive global ranking of the sector, now in its 17th year. This year’s edition, compiled in association with Fecc, the European Association of Chemical Distributors, ranks the firms that keep the world’s chemical supply chains moving, broken down by region from Europe to the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Jack Bardakjian, Founder and CEO of Gapuma Group, said: “To enter this ranking for the first time would have been a milestone in itself, a tribute to everyone who has helped build this company. To do so at 36th in the world, 20th in Europe and 1st in the United Kingdom, on sales of $787.5m, is a moment of real pride. This recognition belongs to the people who earn that trust each day, and to the partners who place their confidence in us. It is a proud first, and it will not be our last.” A debut on this list is not a small thing. It places Gapuma alongside names that define the industry: Brenntag, Tricon Energy, Univar Solutions, IMCD, Nagase, Azelis, Omya and Helm, to name only a few. It is rare company, and we are proud to have earned our place in it. That place reflects how Gapuma has grown: across West Africa, Europe, the Middle East and beyond, built on dependable supply, deep market knowledge and a genuinely global reach. ICIS describes this year’s cohort as the resilient backbone of the chemical industry, the partners producers and customers turn to first. Our thanks to ICIS, and to the customers, suppliers and colleagues who brought us here. The best is still ahead.
Gapuma Returns to Coatings For Africa 2026
9th June 2026 Hot on the heels of our success at Coatings For Africa 2024, Gapuma will once again be exhibiting at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, from 24-26 June 2026. Leading the delegation will be Group Managing Director Jack Baradjkian, alongside Gary Hayes, Dave Steward and many colleagues from our South Africa office. Want to guarantee time with the team? Contact our colleague Caitlin Hayes in advance to secure your slot: caitlin@gapuma.com 📍 Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg 📅 24-26 June 2026 We look forward to connecting, catching up and showing you what we’ve been working on.
Gapuma Ghana Limited at WAMPEX 2026
8 June 2026 Last week we joined West Africa’s mining and power community in Accra for WAMPEX 2026, and we did so in force. WAMPEX – the West African Mining & Power Exhibition – is the region’s largest and longest-running event of its kind, running for over three decades. This year’s 19th edition, held from 3 to 5 June at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, brought together more than 6,000 mining professionals and over 250 exhibitors from 20 countries, all under the theme: “How Can Responsible Mining and Power Accelerate West Africa’s Sustainable Development?” It matters because West Africa is now central to the global mineral conversation – gold, bauxite, iron ore, manganese and lithium among them – and WAMPEX compresses months of sourcing, supplier discovery and high-level networking into three focused days. For a supply and trading partner like Gapuma, that is the room to be in. We were proud to send a strong delegation from across the Gapuma Group, including: Kishor Ubrani – Managing Director, Gapuma Ghana Limited Shiko Ghosh – CEO, Gapuma Ghana Limited Viveck Dutt Obert Chukwature Dheeren Panjwani Raj Thakkar – Procurement Consultant, Gapuma Group Ash Unadkat – Quality Manager, Gapuma Group Thank you to the organisers, the Ghana Chamber of Mines and everyone who stopped by our stand. Here’s to the partnerships that move the sector forward.
A New Chapter in Ghana: Welcoming Shiko Ghosh as CEO of Gapuma Ghana Limited
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Shiko Ghosh as Chief Executive Officer of Gapuma Ghana Limited. Shiko steps into the role at an important moment for our operations in Ghana, a country woven into Gapuma’s story from the very beginning. He will work under Kishor Ubrani, who continues as Managing Director, and together they will lead the next chapter of our presence in one of West Africa’s most dynamic markets. To mark the occasion, we are sharing a short film – the first of three over the coming days – introducing Shiko and the vision he brings to the role. Welcome aboard, Shiko. We are glad to have you with us.
Biofuels: Where Policy Writes the Market
5 June 2026 A report by Transport & Environment (T&E), the Brussels-based clean transport campaign group, featured this week in Le Monde, projects that global biofuel demand could rise by 30% in 2026 and as much as 70% by 2030, well above earlier forecasts of 40%. The drivers are familiar to anyone watching energy markets closely. Amid instability in the Middle East and rising fossil fuel prices, countries with strong agricultural sectors are lifting their blending mandates. Indonesia is raising the palm oil content of its biodiesel to 50% from July; India, Malaysia, Brazil and the United States have all revised their targets upward. It is a moment that rewards a steady hand and genuine market literacy. As Gapuma’s own biofuels trader Charles Percheron told Le Monde: “It’s a market that wouldn’t exist without political will. Regulations can stimulate demand, but they can also curb it.” This is a market built on political will, then, where regulation can accelerate demand just as readily as it can restrain it. Reading those signals – anticipating where mandates move next, and pricing the second-generation feedstocks that may follow – is precisely the kind of judgement that defines good trading. That a national newspaper of record turned to Gapuma for that read says something about where the firm now sits in the conversation. We’re proud to see our people’s instinct and expertise recognised on the international stage. Read the full piece (In French) here: https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2026/06/04/la-ruee-vers-les-agrocarburants-un-risque-pour-la-securite-alimentaire-mondiale_6696904_3234.html
Ghana: Where it all began, and where we headed next
There are companies that arrive in a market, and there are companies that were born in one. For Gapuma Group, Ghana is the latter. When our founder, Jack Bardakjian, started the business in 1999, the very first trade was in Ghana – a decision he took, in his own words, “against all the advice and all the predictions.” Twenty-six years on, that instinct has become the foundation of everything we are: an international commodities group sourcing from more than thirty countries and delivering to over fifty, with an active in-country presence in West Africa that traces directly back to where we began. So when Ash Unadkat, our Office and Quality Manager, made his first overseas trip on behalf of the company this month – accompanied by our Procurement Consultant, Raj Thakkar – it was no accident that the destination was Accra. You return to your roots when you want to grow. The timing could hardly be richer. Ghana stands at a genuinely interesting moment. The 24-hour economy initiative, the Accra–Kumasi Expressway, and continued development across the gold, oil, energy, cocoa, and financial sectors are reshaping the commercial landscape – the same sectors that have anchored the bilateral relationship between Ghana and the United Kingdom for generations. That relationship runs deep. Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African nation to win independence from colonial rule, in March 1957 – a milestone that made it a trailblazer for a continent. The bonds forged since, in language, trade, the Commonwealth, and a vast and vibrant diaspora, remain among the closest the UK holds anywhere in Africa. Our London-based Ghanaian colleague, Yannick Annor, captured that spirit beautifully after meeting the President of the Republic of Ghana in London on 31 May. He wrote of a diaspora encouraged to return, invest, and bring their knowledge home – and of his own reasons, as a French-Ghanaian, for choosing the UK precisely because it kept him close to Ghana. “We all have a role to play in shaping the future of our country,” he said. We could not agree more, and we are proud to play our small part. And then there is the football. In exactly twenty days, on 23 June, the Black Stars meet England at Gillette Stadium in their first-ever competitive fixture between the two nations. Whatever the scoreline, there is something fitting about it: two countries bound by history, meeting on the world’s biggest stage, just as one of them welcomes us back to where our story started. From a single trade in 1999 to a quarter-century of partnership – Ghana, it has always been you. 🇬🇭
Gapuma Switzerland: At the Heart of European Biofuels
26 May 2026 Rafael Fraletti, Charles Percheron and Fabrice Brunet – Managing Director, Switzerland – recently attended the 10th European Biofuels Conference – organised by Dropet, a division of Marex – held at the Pestana Cidadela Cascais in Portugal. Now in its tenth year, the conference has established itself as a landmark gathering for buyers, sellers and companies active in the European biofuels markets. The three-day programme combined substantive keynote sessions with extensive networking. Argus Media’s Giulia Squadrin and Joshua Thomas Michalowski opened proceedings with an overview of European biofuels market trends, pricing and outlook, while Andreas Bodenmueller of Verbio examined the implications of RED III through the lens of the German experience. Beyond the formal sessions, the format allowed for the kind of frank, informal dialogue that rarely happens in a purely transactional setting – something Gapuma Group values highly as we continue to build our presence in this space. For us, conferences such as this one are not simply networking events. They are an essential part of understanding where markets are heading, and of positioning ourselves to serve our clients well. We look forward to the conversations already in progress as a result.
🛢️ GAPUMA GROUP | MARKET INTELLIGENCE | 20 MAY 2026
Hormuz, Beijing and Moscow: The Geopolitics of Oil Are Being Rewritten in Real Time The movement of two Chinese supertankers through the Strait of Hormuz today – the Yuan Gui Yang and Ocean Lily, carrying approximately 4 million barrels of crude after waiting in the Gulf for more than two months – has sent an immediate and unmistakeable signal to commodity markets. Brent crude fell to as low as $110.16 a barrel on the news. This is not merely a shipping story. It is a geopolitical statement. The vessels’ passage comes as President Trump and President Xi concluded a two-day summit in Beijing, with a White House official describing the talks as “good.” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that China would work behind the scenes to help reopen the strait, noting that Beijing has “a much bigger interest in reopening the strait than the US does.” Beijing, characteristically, said nothing publicly about Hormuz – Chinese state media reported only that the leaders “exchanged views on major international and regional issues, such as the Middle East situation.” Silence, in diplomacy, is often the loudest language. Iran has reportedly sought to implement a toll system for vessels crossing Hormuz – a brazen assertion of sovereign authority over an international waterway that carries roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply. That Chinese-flagged supertankers are now moving freely while broader restrictions remain in place is a pointed reminder of where true leverage lies. Meanwhile, closer to home, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has authorised the import of Russian-refined diesel and jet fuel into the UK indefinitely, alongside a temporary licence permitting the maritime transport of Russian LNG from the Sakhalin-2 and Yamal terminals. The government frames it as pragmatism. Treasury Minister Dan Tomlinson told Sky News the government was “acting pragmatically to insulate British citizens from the economic fallout of the Middle East conflict.” Critics – not least opposition leader Kemi Badenoch – see it differently: as analysts have noted, from Moscow’s perspective, it demonstrates that Western countries are “not that committed to a sanctions regime” when their own consumers feel the pinch. The broader picture is stark. Global oil supply has declined by 12.8 mb/d in total since February, with output from Gulf countries affected by the Strait’s closure running 14.4 mb/d below pre-war levels. The IEA projects a decline of 3.9 mb/d on average across 2026, assuming flows gradually resume from June. The United Nations has already cut its global growth forecast to 2.5% this year, against an estimated 3% last year, citing higher energy costs and weaker trade. For commodities and futures desks, the key questions now are whether today’s tanker movements represent a genuine reopening or a bilateral Chinese carve-out – and whether the gap between the two matters less than markets think. Wood Mackenzie has estimated Brent could approach $200 a barrel if the Strait remains largely shut until the end of the year. The downside scenario, by contrast, assumes a rapid diplomatic resolution that supply chains are ill-prepared to absorb smoothly. At Gapuma Group, we are watching these developments closely across energy, commodities and futures markets. The rules of the game are changing – and the players setting them are not all where they used to be. For market intelligence, trading insights and strategic analysis, connect with the Gapuma Group team.