Trafigura names new battery-metals heads in wake of nickel fraud

Trafigura Group has appointed new co-heads of battery metals trading — a business the commodities giant has said was the victim of a “systematic fraud” that could cost it more than half a billion dollars.

Mehdi Wetterwald and Daniel von Arx, who have both worked at Trafigura for over a decade, will run the global nickel, cobalt and lithium trading operations, according to a person familiar with the matter. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that head of nickel and cobalt trading Socrates Economou is leaving the group, although Trafigura has said it doesn’t believe any of its employees was complicit in the alleged fraud.