ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, — Louis Dreyfus Commodities Vostok LLC announced on July 17 that it has acquired a grain terminal in Russia’s Rostov region. Currently under development, the terminal is located on a 20-hectare landplot in the Azov district on the river Don, and includes two berths and six silos. Upon completion, it will be used for the transshipment of grains on sea-river vessels with an initial annual export capacity of 500,000 tonnes, aiming to exceed 1 million tonnes over time.

"This new acquisition is fully in line with our regional investment strategy, which will help us serve our global customers more efficiently through additional export capacity,” said Cesar Soares, regional head of Grains for Europe and Black Sea at Louis Dreyfus Commodities. “It is also an important first step towards developing new alternatives in logistics, considering that small port flows account for a big part of total grain export volumes in Russia.”

The acquisition follows the signing of a memorandum of cooperation on June 19, at the 2015 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, in the presence of Vasily Golubev, interim governor of the Rostov Region.

The new terminal is expected to start the first phase of its operation in early 2016. The project is supported by Rostov’s Investment Development Agency.