Oil trader Trafigura put profits ahead of safety to hide hazardous waste in a ship that docked in Amsterdam in 2006 and then exported it illegally, a court heard today.

A Dutch-based oil trading company has agreed to pay the Ivory Coast government nearly €1.5m to settle a dispute over toxic waste that the company had been accused of illegally dumping in the port city of Abidjan, the Ivory Coast government said.