China-backed metals trader Kyen to set up London office

Singapore-based metals trader Kyen Resources said it was setting up a trading desk in London as it pushes to expand its recycled metals and concentrates trading business. Kyen, part owned by Chinese company Shenzhen Feima International Supply Chain Co, said late last week that it had hired 12 staff for its British office and that more would join in coming months.
Matthew Hadfield, formerly of ICBC Standard Bank, will lead the London office. The step marks the latest example of a China-backed firm seeking a slice of the international metals trading business amid a global revival in manufacturing, filling a gap left by large banks and brokers that have been increasingly hamstrung by tougher regulations and higher costs.
For example, NCCL Natural Resources Investment Fund, partly owned by China Molybdenum Co Ltd, in December agreed to buy the global metals business of commodity trader Louis Dreyfus. Kyen scaled up when it bought the metals trading book of Switzerland's Gunvor in 2016, partly as the Swiss trader dismantled its metals business to focus on more lucrative oil markets and cut counterparty risk.