Swiss commodity trading firm Glencore Agriculture has joined the world’s leading agribusinesses in an initiative to modernise global agricultural commodity trading.
The companies Glencore joined were the so-called ABCD group of agribusiness – Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) – which established the initiative last October, with China’s COFCO International joining in December.
The initiative was initially looking at new technologies, including blockchain and artificial intelligence, to automate grain and oilseed post-trade executive processes, which would reduce the costs of moving agricultural and food products around the globe, ADM said on 19 September.
The group was projecting the launch of the new platform in the second half of 2020, subject to regulatory approval.
The next steps included focusing on pilot technology that would cover international bulk shipments of soyabeans from Brazil to China. The group was finalising the selection of technology solutions providers and partners, ADM said.
