Alkagesta outlines biofuels origination strategy through the Alkagesta Way

Alkagesta has published the latest instalment of its 'Alkagesta Way' video series, this time with Anthony Guida, biofuels trading desk lead at the Malta-headquartered trading house's Geneva office. The conversation follows a newly established desk from market thesis to signed offtake agreements, and sets out what keeps the operation together once the paperwork is done.

A new desk in a growing market

Biofuels sit where road, aviation and maritime demand overlap, and appetite in all three is rising as ESG commitments harden into procurement requirements. Regional disruption across Middle Eastern shipping corridors has added momentum: with fossil-fuel pricing under pressure, biofuel premiums have narrowed, making the switch a cost decision as much as a compliance one. That reading is consistent with the geopolitical risk and logistics work the company has published alongside its assessment of Strait of Hormuz supply disruption.

Used cooking oil sits at the centre of the shift. One of the most common feedstocks for biodiesel production, it is also among the clearest working examples of a circular economy: a product imported, consumed, then given a second life. Guida said entering biofuels meant mapping which parts of the business a new commodity would touch before a single trade was made. "A new commodity means being aware of which business departments the trading of the commodity touches," he said — operations, trade finance, legal, and a counterparty base that looks nothing like the desks Alkagesta has traditionally worked with across its wider trading book. Entry requirements into biofuel markets are relatively low depending on scale, which means the desk's real work begins after a counterparty is identified, not before.

Origination as relationship-building

Scale is a recurring theme. Many suppliers are smaller operators, closer to waste collection or independent entrepreneurship than to institutional commodity trading. Working with them calls for a different kind of origination — less transaction volume, more standardisation, fair pricing and operational support that helps those counterparties grow. Guida framed the benefit as reciprocal: unlocking a feedstock that serves the European Union's sustainable fuels agenda while improving efficiency and waste collection in the local markets where the smaller players operate. It is an approach that sits close to the company's stated business model and what it does elsewhere in physical trading.

Every relationship passes the same filter before commercial terms are discussed. KYC and screening come first, without exception, under the desk's risk management framework. What follows is assessed on three fronts: shared business interest, the practical mechanics of operating in a given region and commodity, and whether the counterparty is building toward something longer than a single trade. A five-year offtake agreement, Guida explained, is never a first-trade outcome. It reflects a period of working together, on-site assessment and, in his words, "reciprocal trust, both that Alkagesta have in the counterparts and that the counterpart has in Alkagesta." Those recurring volumes now feed aviation, transportation and marine fuel production across the European biofuel landscape.

Infrastructure gives the desk tools; relationships give them meaning

Trading across multiple sustainability jurisdictions — ISCC, CORSIA and NABISY-linked frameworks among them — required certification and a schedule of recurring audits before a single cargo could move on compliant terms. Storage capacity in Antwerp extended that further: the multi-year biofuel storage agreement signed this year gave the desk control over quality, dispatch timing and how product reaches end users across European and neighbouring markets, adding to global storage operations. Access to pipeline infrastructure supporting NATO-linked jet fuel delivery, blended with sustainable aviation fuel, followed the same logic — granted only after rigorous screening, and treated internally as confirmation of reliability rather than a logistics win. The aviation thread continued at the IATA aviation energy forum earlier this year.

Movement of cargo is handled alongside the company's shipping and logistics function and its Malta shipping division. None of it substitutes for the groundwork underneath. Guida was direct about where judgment still enters the process: "What really counts is also gut feeling, personal impression" — reading whether a counterparty is honest in communication and likely to perform when conditions get difficult, something no compliance checklist fully captures. Regular travel and on-the-ground meetings remain how that judgment is tested.

First year, and what comes next

Within its first year the biofuels desk has signed a multi-year storage agreement, concluded multiple used cooking oil offtake agreements across several countries, and moved cargo by vessel and truck between Europe, Africa and Asia. Heading into 2026 the focus shifts to widening the product range while holding the execution and risk standards that built the desk's first year of trading relationships — a trajectory in line with the company's first-half 2026 performance update, its 2025 annual report and the leadership and governance structure overseeing the desk.

The full interview is published in Alkagesta's market insights and media library, and the video can be watched here.