日本商社能源业务重心转向液化天然气
日本最大贸易公司之一三井物产(Mitsui & Co)正把能源业务的重心从传统的原油业务转向液化天然气(LNG)，原因是亚洲对较清洁能源的需求不断上升。
“We’re not that keen on liquid, we are now shifting more to gas,” Tatsuo Yasunaga, chief executive of Japan’s second-largest trading house by market capitalisation, told the Financial Times in an interview.
“我们对液态碳氢化合物没有那么热衷，我们正把更多重心转向天然气，”日本市值第二大贸易商社的社长安永龙夫(Tatsuo Yasunaga)在接受采访时告诉英国《金融时报》。
His comments come as natural gas demand is expected to grow faster than oil or coal in the energy markets, as an increasing amount of the super-cooled fuel is shipped around the globe.
他发表此言之际，能源市场对天然气的需求预计将比石油或者煤炭增长更快，有越来越多的超冷却燃料在全球范围内运输。
Demand for LNG elsewhere in Asia is expected to continue to increase, especially with China shutting down its coal-fired power plants and electricity generation by gas expected to rise. Government policies in other countries, as well as concerns over nuclear power, are expected to drive consumption growth over the medium to long term.
亚洲其他地方对液化天然气的需求预计还将继续增长，尤其是中国正在关闭燃煤电厂，而燃气发电量预计将要上升。其他国家的政策，以及对核电的担忧，预计将在中期至长期推动天然气消费增长。
“Beyond 2020 we have seen lots of opportunities, and demand will be increasing significantly. Now we have to prepare the supply side,” said Mr Yasunaga.
“我们看到2020年以后会有很多机会，需求将显著增长。现在我们必须做好供应侧的准备，”安永龙夫说。
Japan’s consumption of crude oil and oil products has continued to decline each year. According to the US Energy Information Administration, this is due to falling industrial output, the mandatory blending of ethanol into transportation fuel, more fuel-efficient vehicles and an ageing population leading to a declining car-driving population.
日本原油和石油产品消费量呈逐年下降趋势。美国能源情报署(US Energy Information Administration)表示，这是因为日本的工业产出下降、强制要求将乙醇掺入运输燃料、高能效车辆保有量增加，以及人口老龄化导致驾车人口数量降低。
Japan is the largest buyer of LNG, transported around the world on tankers. LNG demand jumped in 2012 after the Fukushima nuclear accident, and it has become the government’s primary fuel of choice for power generation due to the lower environmental impact compared with coal and oil.
日本是液化天然气的最大买家，这些液化天然气通过专用运输船从世界各地运往日本。在2011年福岛第一核电站事故之后，日本对液化天然气的需求飙升，这种能源现已成为政府的首选发电燃料，因为它的环境影响小于煤炭和石油。
But Mr Yasunaga said Mitsui’s shift to LNG was “not about duty but about business”.
但安永龙夫表示，三井物产将重心转向液化天然气“无关义务，而是关乎生意”。
The emphasis on profit growth as a basis for investment comes as Japan’s leading trading houses, known as sogo shosha, are trying to shift away from their reliance on raw materials such as iron ore and oil. A downturn in commodity prices led to writedowns in their natural resource assets in the business year to March 2016.
注重将利润增长作为投资依据之际，被称为“综合商社”(sogo shosha)的日本主要贸易商社正试图从依赖铁矿石和石油等原材料转型。大宗商品的价格下滑导致这些公司的自然资源资产在截至2016年3月的财年减记。
In the past, Japanese trading houses including Mitsubishi Corp, Mitsui, Marubeni, Itochu and Sumitomo Corporation mainly procured raw materials and helped Japanese manufacturers export their products. However, with an increasing number of exporters and importers doing business directly, they turned from being the middlemen to making direct investments, using their networks and access to cheap finance.
过去，三菱(Mitsubishi Corp)、三井、丸红(Marubeni)、伊藤忠(Itochu)和住友(Sumitomo)等日本贸易商社主要采购原材料和帮助日本制造商出口它们的产品。然而，随着直接做生意的出口商和进口商日益增多，这些贸易商社从担当中间商转向直接投资，利用自身人脉和获得廉价资金的渠道。
Before the downturn in commodity prices, the trading companies had increased their investments in assets such as mines and oil and gas projects, encouraged by the Japanese government looking to secure energy and metals for the country’s industry.
在大宗商品价格下滑之前，这些贸易商社在希望为本国工业保障能源和金属供应的日本政府的鼓励下，增加了对采矿、石油和天然气项目等资产的投资。
Mr Yasunaga wants to bring down the portion of net income coming from energy and metals operations to 50 per cent.
安永龙夫希望将能源和金属业务占净利润的比例降低到50%。
In the year to March 2017, those businesses accounted for just under 60 per cent of overall after-tax profits.
在截至2017年3月的一年，这些业务占三井物产总税后利率的比例略低于60%。
