Reuters reported that Swiss steel and coal trader Carbofer General Trading was declared bankrupt in May 2012, shortly after its shipping branch Carbofer Maritime.

The bankruptcy office of Lugano told Reuters that CGT, once a large player in the spot coal and steel trade was declared bankrupt on May 16th 2012 as market conditions worsened and financing froze up.

The Danish Sea and Maritime court said that its Copenhagen based shipping branch Carbofer Maritime Trading was declared bankrupt about a month earlier.

A steel trader said that "If the market conditions were better and the banking sector leverage was similar to what it was before the financial crisis, maybe the company could have been saved, as it had good traders. The management took some risky, aggressive decisions at the wrong time and this also weighed. Maybe they should have been a bit less exuberant at a moment where neither the market nor banks would allow that."

Carbofer grew rapidly from its start up 2004 to generate revenue of USD 4 billion in 2008 during the commodity boom year, but a mixture of tight credit conditions and unsuccessful deals had shrunk the company over the past two years. After an unsuccessful attempt to recapitalize the company through the sale of a substantial stake to an Indian investor last year, its financial situation deteriorated.

Source - Reuters

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