Glencore Agri-Products is a crusher of soybean and oilseed rape, along with the production of crush co-products, including soybean meal and hulls. The company said it is actively expanding its crush capacity, particularly in South America.
Glencore Grain will be working with the Portland, Dorset, U.K.-based Mercury Commodities to develop the market in the U.K.
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| James Maw, managing director of Glencore Grain U.K. |
James Maw, managing director of Glencore Grain U.K., said the opening of dedicated import facilities and a direct distribution channel into the U.K. now gives a fully accredited and assured supply chain for quality products, right through from the crush to U.K. consumers.
“We already supply whole grains to leading U.K. animal feed compounders and manufacturers,” Maw said. “Working with the market knowledge and experience of Mercury Commodities we can build on that business to now offer feed compounders and manufacturers a complete offer for the bulk of their raw materials.”
Maw highlighted the selected high-capacity import and distribution sites would give quick and cost-effective access to the prime livestock producing centers of the U.K., including the major pig and poultry markets of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Humberside, along with cattle production in the southwest, northwest and Scotland.
“Glencore has a reliable distribution network, full governance procedures and the proven reputation to assure the consistent delivery of high-quality products direct to the end-user,” he said. “The company already has direct supply chains to feed compounders, including most parts of Europe, North and South America, Australia and Asia; which we have now extended into the U.K.”
Frank Nickel, director of Mercury Commodities, said the new direct supply chain, from Glencore’s global production right through to U.K. feed businesses, offered an exciting opportunity to market the supply of high quality feed products.
“The long-term direct supply of Glencore products allows us to further invest in cost-effective facilities,” Nickel said. “That will ensure we can continue to improve the service to our existing customers, and to work with an increasing new customer base of feed businesses across the U.K.”
Glencore Grain has been trading since 1969 and has 180,000 employees at over 150 locations. In 2014, the company had a turnover of $224 billion and total assets of $152 billion.
In September 2015, Glencore Plc announced it was seeking investors in its agriculture unit as part of a plan to reduce its $30 billion debt by $10 billion. In December 2015, the company said it already had reduced debt by $8.7 billion and had revised its debt reduction target to $13 billion.
Glencore Plc announced on April 6 that the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Canada’s largest pension fund, plans to purchase a 40% equity interest in Glencore Agri for $2.5 billion cash. On June 8, the company entered a definitive agreement with British Columbia Investment Management Corp. for the purchase of a 9.99% stake in Glencore Agricultural Products for $624.9 million payable in cash upon closing.
Glencore Agri is a differentiated and vertically-integrated business focused on the global agricultural products value chain, Glencore said. Built around a network of high-quality origination and logistics assets, comprising over 200 storage facilities, 31 processing facilities and 23 ports, Glencore Agri is well-positioned in key export regions and in the trade of major agricultural commodities, including grains, oilseeds products, rice, sugar, pulses and cotton.
