Thijs Knaap, chief economist at APG, knows one thing for sure: alternatives for energy transport through the Strait of Hormuz will become more expensive than the method they replace (transport via tankers). This has an important consequence for investors. He says this during the investor panel in the radio program BNR Zakendoen, where he also discusses, among other things, an interesting investment for ABP.
What effect does the occasionally flaring up war in the Middle East have on companies? Knaap: "We now know what the consequences have been for oil. They were not too bad, because there was already a lot of oil supply and consumption has decreased. But there are many other products that come from the Gulf region, such as sulfur, helium, urea and ammonia. There are companies that depend on these. For example, helium is very important to produce chips. I wonder if we will hear about shortages and whether we will see that reflected in the figures of companies. The longer these shortages last, the bigger they become."
Not self-evident
More and more alternatives will be sought for transporting energy via the Strait of Hormuz, but Knaap knows one thing for sure: those alternatives will become more expensive than the method they replace (transport via tankers). "This has an important consequence for investors, because it causes higher inflation. And that in turn means higher interest rates, which is not good for the market."
Knaap also highlights a recent investment for pension fund ABP in the bioenergy platform BioticNRG. BioticNRG builds factories in which manure and waste are converted into gas (methane). With ABP's investment, the company, which is now only active in the United Kingdom, can expand its activities to Denmark. Knaap: "An interesting investment, now that transporting energy through the Gulf is no longer self-evident."