Global agribusiness giant Cargill has acquired a soyabean oil crushing, refining and bottling plant in Brazil, World Grain wrote.
Although the company had operated the plant in Barreiras, Bahia, through a lease agreement since 1998, the deal granted it full ownership, the 20 June report said.
The Barreiras facility produces soyabean meal (bulk and bagged), pelletised soyabean hulls, and degummed and refined oil (bulk and bottled) under the Liza brand, according to the report.
Financial terms were not disclosed in the 17 June announcement.
“The initiative is in line with our growth strategy and strengthens our operations in the region, allowing us to continue investing to serve both our customers in the domestic market and those in the global soyabean meal market,” said Paulo Sousa, president of Cargill in Brazil and of the agricultural business in Latin America.
Active in Brazil for 60 years, Cargill said it had invested BRL$8.1bn (US$1.5bn) in its operations in the country over the past five years, which included 29 factories, 75 warehouses, seven port terminals, two innovation centres, a shared services centre, five distribution centres, 14 commercial offices and four corporate offices.
In May, the company won an auction for a 35-year lease at the port terminal in Paranaguá with a winning bid of BRL411M (US$72.4M), an earlier World Grain report said.
In February, the company announced it had acquired the remaining 50% of the shares of SJC Bioenergia, consolidating 100% control of the company, now renamed Cargill Bioenergia – with its units in Quirinópolis and Cachoeira Dourada.
SJC Bioenergia produces raw sugar, hydrated and anhydrous ethanol, corn oil and high-protein distillers’ dried grains (DDGs) from sugarcane and corn, and is also an electricity producer.
Brazil has established itself as the world’s top supplier of soyabeans, with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasting that the country will produce 173M tonnes of soyabeans and export a record 112M tonnes in 2025/26.
