Markets

Nidera Australia joins COFCO

Grain Central, April 26, 2017

Nidera Australia has this week officially joined forces with COFCO, sealing many months of work to enmesh the Australian company within the global business.

COFCO has completed its buyout of Nidera. Photo: kelp4less.com

This announcement means that COFCO International Group has in Australia two agricultural subsidiaries, Nidera Australia Pty Ltd and COFCO Agri.

The conglomerate business has the world’s largest agricultural importing markets in its sights, and will use the financial muscle of its parent to fund trade from origination.

It exports foodstuffs from every major origin and ships to major destinations, significantly China; a six-continent supply chain.

Key origination

From its Toowoomba base, Nidera operates throughout Australia trading mainly in wheat, barley, sorghum and pulses. It exports milling wheat, and feed barley from container ports and bulk terminals around Australia.

Nidera has built strong penetration in sorghum trade, sourcing NSW and Queensland grain for sale inter alia to China, and has a significant share of the peas and chickpeas trade from eastern Australia to South Asia.

‘We aim to create a global agricultural supply chain, strengthen worldwide origination, and grow our business globally’

“We aim to create a vertically-integrated global agricultural supply chain, supported by COFCO’s unique position in China, strengthen worldwide origination, logistics and trading capabilities, and grow our business globally,” COFCO said in a statement.

Internationally, COFCO is widely seen as building its capacity to join the world’s major grain operators, ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Glencore and Louis Dreyfus.

In recent years, COFCO acquired Australian businesses Noble Agri and Tully Sugar.

Its origins date back to the 1960s, when it expanded its operations, from provincial agent as the China National Cereals, Oilseeds and Foodstuffs Import and Export Company, to include global trade.  Its first office opened in Australia in 1989.

The COFCO Agri business is based in Melbourne.  It is a shareholder in Quattro grain terminal at Port Kembla.

The announcement of COFCO’s buyout of Nidera was made in August last year.

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