OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS, U.S. — Lansing Trade Group LLC, an independent commodity merchandising company, and Singapore-based Olam International Ltd., a global integrated supply chain manager and processor of agricultural products and food ingredients, have agreed to form a 50-50 joint venture to originate and merchandise Canadian grains and oilseeds.

The joint venture, which will be known as Lansing Olam Canada, will focus on merchandising Canadian grains and oilseeds to meet the food and feed demand in North America as well as international markets.

“We believe the individual company strengths of Lansing and Olam together will be able to deliver innovative solutions from origin to destination for the western Canadian grain customers much like Lansing has done in Ontario since those markets were opened up to free trade,” said Bill Krueger, president and chief executive officer of Lansing Trade Group.

KC Suresh, president and global head of Olam’s grains business, added, “The joint venture will leverage Olam’s in-house milling demand in Africa, its rapidly growing global trading platform and customer base along with Lansing’s deep knowledge of North American market. This will enable the jv to become a valuable contributor in the liberalized market.”

Lansing Olam Canada is expected to begin operations in July.