CHS Co-op Looking to Expand

By CnAgri2012-10-25 19:25:36 Print

CHS Inc, the largest U.S. farm co-operative, is seeking to expand its grain buying, storing and shipping assets to meet rising demand from Asia and tap increasing grain output in South America and eastern Europe, President and CEO Carl Casale said on Tuesday.

The Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota-based company has expanded its export facilities in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Gulf Coast, South America and eastern Europe over the past two years, tapping several producing regions to help blunt the impact of weather-related crop shortfalls.

According to Reuters, the company has also opened offices in western Canada, Asia and Latin America amid intense competition between grains traders to feed fast-developing countries seeking food security.

"It's a continued balance of origination, storage and export to meet the continued growing demand that you're going to see in Asia," Casale told Reuters on the sidelines of the Export Exchange industry gathering.

The investments by CHS and other deals are part of a broader wave of consolidation in the global grains trade.

Last week, Archer Daniels Midland bid $2.8 billion for Australian grain handler GrainCorp, which the company was reviewing.

GrainCorp was also believed to be weighing bids from other agribusiness heavyweights including Bunge, Cargill CARG.UL and Louis Dreyfus LOUDR.UL, which along with ADM comprise the dominant group known as the ABCDs of the global grain trade.

CHS has not been mentioned as a bidder in for GrainCorp.