Chicago | Reuters – Cargill Inc reported a 6 percent drop in quarterly profits on Wednesday as a global glut of grains limited trading opportunities for the food-commodities merchant. Four years of bumper grain and oilseeds harvests have squeezed profits for Cargill and main rivals Archer Daniels Midland Co, Bunge Ltd and Louis Dreyfus Corp […] Read more
Cargill profit falls as grain glut limits trading
ADM, Cargill still pursue Syngenta over corn rejections
Chicago | Reuters — Syngenta moved closer to putting a troubled biotech corn seed launch behind it with a US$1.5 billion settlement with farmers this week, but grain traders who filed two remaining lawsuits may be less ready to compromise, legal experts said. The company was sued three years ago by the farmers and traders […] Read more
Irma whips orange trees, shuts meat plants
Chicago | Reuters — Hurricane Irma stripped oranges from trees and prompted Tyson Foods to shut meat plants in Florida and Georgia on Monday to keep workers safe. Tyson, the biggest U.S. meat company, hopes to resume normal operations soon at chicken plants it shuttered in Cumming, Dawson and Vienna, Ga., and at a beef […] Read more
Bunge leaves door open to selling itself, cuts 2017 forecast
Chicago/Reuters – Bunge Ltd kept the door open on Wednesday to a sale of the company as it reported a 34 percent drop in quarterly earnings and cut its full-year outlook, but its chief executive officer predicted a grains market rebound that would reverse the slide. CEO Soren Schroder said planned cost cuts should also […] Read more
ADM sees weaker ag services outlook on trading woes
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. agricultural trader Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) on Tuesday cautioned that massive global grain stocks are making it difficult to turn a profit trading grain internationally, sending its shares plummeting despite reporting a higher first-quarter profit. The warning highlighted a string of trading woes at ADM, which has shed several key […] Read more
Bunge profit dives as grain glut hits margins
Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. agricultural trader Bunge reported on Wednesday a sharply lower first-quarter profit and cut its full-year earnings forecast as slow crop sales by farmers in South America squeezed margins in its core agribusiness unit, sending shares tumbling. White Plains, N.Y.-based Bunge said net income available to shareholders plunged 82 per cent […] Read more
ADM sells stake in Canada Malting owner GrainCorp
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. agricultural commodities trader Archer Daniels Midland has sold its 19.9 per cent stake in GrainCorp to underwriters UBS, just three years after a failed bid to wholly acquire the Australian grain handler, ADM said Thursday. The sale to the Swiss bank was valued at A$387 million (C$382 million), or A$8.53 […] Read more
ADM profit jumps on higher U.S. grain exports
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. agricultural products trader Archer Daniels Midland on Tuesday reported a far better-than-expected third-quarter profit as higher U.S. exports of corn and soybeans boosted volumes and margins, sending shares up sharply. U.S. farmers have nearly completed what is expected to be the largest corn and soybean harvests on record, which should […] Read more
Vale fertilizer sale seen on track despite review
Rio de Janeiro | Reuters — Vale SA’s plan to dispose of fertilizer assets remains on track despite a request last week by Brazil’s state development bank, BNDES, to analyze the transaction more carefully, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. Terms of the deal, which involves the sale of certain assets […] Read more
ADM eyes ethanol asset sales as weak margins hit Q2
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain trader Archer Daniels Midland is pulling back in ethanol and exploring sales of its corn dry mills that produce the biofuel, the company said Thursday after reporting a lower second-quarter profit due partly to weak ethanol results. Chicago-based ADM, one of the world’s top ethanol makers, has made presentations […] Read more