London | Reuters — Commodity trader and miner Glencore is in talks to sell a further 9.9 per cent stake in its agricultural unit, negotiating with bidders that missed out on the 40 per cent sold to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Glencore, whose ag […] Read more
Glencore in talks to sell further stake in ag unit
COFCO in talks for full ownership of Noble agribusiness
Reuters — China’s food giant COFCO is in advanced talks to take full ownership of Noble Group’s agribusiness, three sources said, a move which would cement its newfound strength in global agriculture markets and help bolster Noble’s balance sheet. The sources said COFCO was in talks to buy the remaining 49 per cent of Singapore-listed […] Read more
Russia-Turkey tensions stymie new wheat deals
Reuters — Political tension between Russia and Turkey has put a brake on new wheat deals between the two countries and created uncertainty about existing agreements, traders said Thursday. Relations between Russia, one of the world’s largest wheat exporters, and Turkey, the largest buyer of Russian wheat, have quickly deteriorated after Turkey shot down a […] Read more
Cargill said restructuring, cutting jobs
London | Reuters –– Cargill Inc., one of the world’s largest privately held corporations, has launched a restructuring that includes job cuts, one company source and four industry sources said Friday, the latest casualty of a downturn in the farm economy. The 150-year-old company, a top commodities trader, is also closing offices, two of the […] Read more
Glencore reported in talks on agriculture assets
Reuters — Glencore is in talks with a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund and China’s state-backed grain trader COFCO, along with Canadian pension funds, to sell a stake in its agricultural assets, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Selling assets is one prong of a wider strategy by the Swiss-based trader and miner to […] Read more
Russia curbs grain exports to cool domestic prices
Moscow | Reuters — Russia, one of the world’s main wheat exporters, is taking steps to restrict grain exports in an attempt to cool domestic prices, as it tackles a financial crisis linked to plunging oil prices and Western sanctions. In a meeting with grain exporters on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said the […] Read more
Russia surprises peers with early wheat export market exit
London/Moscow | Reuters — Russian wheat has made a surprise early exit from key global export markets, despite the country’s near-record crop, after domestic prices rose in the fallout from the Ukraine crisis. With a bumper crop and the rouble close to historic lows, Russia could reasonably be expected to actively supply wheat to key […] Read more
Ukraine small grain traders in crisis seek loans from big players
Geneva | Reuters — The crisis in Ukraine is hurting its small grain traders as they struggle to get financing from local banks, forcing them to seek loans from bigger, mostly international trade houses, traders said. Growing tensions in East-West relations over Russia’s moves to annex the Black Sea Crimea peninsula have weakened Ukraine’s hryvnia […] Read more
Egypt welcomes U.S. signals as wheat stocks dwindle
Egypt’s interim rulers welcomed on Thursday remarks from the U.S. State Department describing the rule of toppled leader Mohamed Mursi as undemocratic, read in Cairo as a signal that Washington will not cut off its US$1.5 billion in annual aid. In a stark illustration of the desperate state of Egypt’s economy, a former minister from […] Read more
Egypt’s political turmoil unlikely to derail vital wheat buy
Egypt’s first deal on the international wheat market after a long absence is expected to complete even after the army ousted the country’s first democratically elected president earlier this week, traders said on Thursday. Egypt’s armed forces overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on Wednesday, after the armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Mursi […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
