Vopak

Koninklijke Vopak N.V.
Quick Facts
Type	Public
sector	Storage
Headquarters (Benelux Organization)	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Year of Origin	1999
Emissions (All Scopes)	Unknown
NCI assessment	Very low
Total Revenue	1.25 billion EUR (2020)
Stock Exchange	Euronext Amsterdam
Key People	Eelco Hoekstra, CEO Gerard Paulides, CFO Frits Eulderink, COO
Number of Employees	5669
Subsidiaries	27 joint ventures 8 associates Over 50 subsidiaries

Koninklijke Vopak N.V., stylized as Vopak, was founded in 1999 by merger of Pakhoed and Van Ommeren to Vopak. Vopak’s precursors have existed since 1616. Originally focusing on colonial goods like spices and tea. Vopak is currently the world’s leading independent tank storage company. Vopak has 73 terminals, is active in 23 countries and employs 5669 people. Vopak stores and handles Chemicals, Gas, Oil products and vegoils and biofuels. As service provider, Vopak does not own the products it stores. Vopak is headquartered in Amsterdam. Vopak shares are listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. In 2021, Vopak’s revenue was 1.23 billion euro’s. Vopak’s net profit was 243.2 million euro. Vopak’s effective tax rate was 15.7%.

Company Structure

Vopak is headquartered in Amsterdam. Vopak shares are listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. Vopak is originally a Dutch company and therefore headquartered in the Netherlands. Vopak has 27 joint ventures and 8 associates. Vopak has over 50 subsidiaries. Vopak employs a two-tier structure where the Executive board leads the global divisions and is overseen by a supervisory board.

Board of Directors

Executive Board

Name	Function	Remuneration x1000 EUR
Eelco Hoekstra	Chief Executive Officer	2339
Gerard Paulides	Chief Finanacial Officer	1639
Frits Eulderink	Chief Operations Officer	1563

Global team of directors

Global team of directors

Name	Function
Patrick van der Voort	President Europe & Africa
Michiel Gilsing	President Asia & Middle East
Yan Chen	President China & North Asia
Chris Robblee	President Americas
Kees van Seventer	President LNG

Supervisory Board

Supervisory Board

Name	Function	Remuneration x1000 EUR
Ben Nooteboom	Chairman	111.5
Mel Groot	Vice-chairman	78.5
Nicoletta Giadrossi	Member	82.5
Ben van der Veer	Member	80
Lucrere Foufopoulos - De Ridder	Member	80.5
Richard Hookway	Member	81.5

Accountant

Vopak’s external accountant is Deloitte. Climate-related risks was mentioned shortly in the latest independent auditor report as part of the key audit matter on impairment testing of terminal assests, joint venture and associates. Furthermore, Deloitte provides an assurance report with respect to the 2021 sustainability information of Vopak. Deloitte believes that the information presents a reliable and adequate view of "the policy and business operations with regard to sustainability; and the thereto related events and achievements for the year 2021 in accordance with the reporting criteria as included in the section ‘Reporting Criteria’". They "do not provide any assurance on the assumptions and achievability of prospective information in the sustainability information".

Main Activities

Vopak is currently the world’s leading independent tank storage company. Vopak stores and handles Chemicals, Gas, Oil products and vegoils and biofuels As service provider, Vopak never owns the products it stores.

Government

Vopak’s precursors VOC and Pakhoed received royal status in respectively 1989 and 1991. Although it was uncommon for merger companies to keep their royal status, Vopak was allowed to keep it after 1999. Vopak has not received NOW support during corona times. There is no evidence of a direct (financial) relationship between the Dutch state and Vopak. However the GATE terminal in Rotterdam is exploited by a joint cooperation of Vopak and Gasunie, and also came to existance through an investment of both companies and was opened by Queen Beatrix in 2008. Gasunie is fully owned by the Dutch state. The Dutch government does have the possibility to influence Vopak through the environmental laws in place. For specific locations, Vopak makes public whenever a breach or incident regarding environmental laws has occured

Paris Agreement until Today

Since the climate accord of 2015, no progression has been booked in total emissions nor in emission intensity.

Financial Results since 2015

This table shows the financial situation of Vopak since 2015.

Financial situation

Year	Revenue	Profit	Dividend
2015	1.39 billion EUR	549.2 million EUR	118.1 million EUR
2016	1.34 billion EUR	759.3 million EUR	127.5 million EUR
2017	1.3 billion EUR	422.5 million EUR	133.9 million EUR
2018	1.25 billion EUR	481.7 million EUR	134 million EUR
2019	1.25 billion EUR	747.8 million EUR	140.5 million EUR
2020	1.19 billion EUR	489.9 million EUR	146.1 million EUR
2021	1.22 billion EUR	409.7 million EUR	150.5 million EUR

Current Policies and Emissions

In 2021, according to its own reports Vopak’s scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions totaled 0.58 megatonnes. Both emission intensity per storage capacity as well as per revenu has gone up as well. Vopak has the ambition to be climate neutral by 2050. There is no reports for the scope 3 emission. Vopak plans to include scope 3 emissions from construction sites in their reports by 2021.

Despite the ambitions, Vopak denies reporting their scope 3 emissions. Vopak claims their scope 3 emissions are limited, as they are not the owner of the product they store or transport. It seems very unlikely that none of the emissions of the products stored or transported can be attributed to the company that stores the product.

Total emissions of CO₂ (in megatonnes)

Year	Scope 1	Scope 2	Scope 3
2015	0.19	0.26	No report
2016	0.19	0.24	No report
2017	0.17	0.24	No report
2018	0.17	0.25	No report
2019	0.15	0.25	No report
2020	0.2	0.24	No report
2021	0.35	0.23	No report

Climate Plans and Policies

Vopak’s written ambition is to be the sustainability leader in its industry and live up to its purpose: storing vital products with care.

Vopak claims to go beyond legally required minimum standards in many occasions. Vopak uses the American Petroleum Institute’s recommended practice for the refinery and petrochemical industries as their environmental management process. Vopak has the ambition to be climate neutral by 2050.

Vopak has defined seven lines of action to play its role in the energy transition:

• Switching to cleaner and/or renewable fuels
• Energy efficiency through smarter process operations
• Minimize commercial incentives to increase our carbon footprint
• Develop and use renewable energy
• For new terminals, heating and vapor treatment equipment should be based on carbon neutral technology where possible
• Introduce internal carbon pricing in investment proposals
• Carbon capture, storage and reuse of Scope 1 emissions

Vopak plans to develop its business in support of the Paris climate goals. In the annual report over 2021 for the first time Vopak has defined a climate goal for 2030. Vopak's target for 2030 is to reduce emissions by 30% in comparison to 2021. The ambition for 2050 is climate neutrality However, plans to back up these targets are not found in the annual report or on the website. The limited reporting of scope 3 emissions gives plans like this less value.

Due Diligence

Due Diligence

Keep the broader context in mind. Is the company integer when it comes to deforestation, palm oil, biodiversity, human rights etc etc? Be critical in the sources used here.

Scandals and controversies

Energy sector services provider Dialog Group faced a lawsuit from a property investment firm in 2019. The investment firm, Teguh Kemajuan Sdn Bhd was claiming 1.35 billion USD from Dialog and its joint venture partners, including Vopak. The company is seeking compensation for profits it allegedly lost because some of its land was compulsorily purchased by the State Government of Johor, which is also a participant in the Dialog joint venture. Vopak responded to this stating that they believe the claim is groundless. Vopak’s shares in Amsterdam slipped as much as 4.5 percent to their lowest in four months on the news of the legal action.

Around 50 percent of the fuels imported to West Africa come from Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp. Trade statistics show 80 percent of the diesel exported from these three cities to Africa has sulphur content at least 100 times above the European standard. Mercuria Energy Group has confirmed that it has bought gasoline in Amsterdam directly from a local refiner at its Vopak terminal. As Vopak's terminals are used to store and spread this diesel, they carry part of the responsibility to create stricter fuel standards.

Conclusion

Vopak is a major player in its field and its active worldwide. Vopak has ambitious ambitions with regard to sustainability, but in the years since the Paris Agreement hasn’t made progress on these ambititons. This reduces credibility. Vopak strives to be climate neutral in 2050 and has the ambition to reduce emissions in 2030 by 30% in comparison to 2021. Vopak defined seven lines of actions to get there, but no foundation to these lines of actions are provided, so far. There are no plans (yet) to back up this ambition. A major issue with regard to its climate plans is, however, that Vopak currently does not include its scope 3 emissions in its reporting. There is a lot to gain for Vopak to get in line with the Paris Agreement of 2015.