U.S. agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland raised the stakes in the global race for grains trading power last week, by seeking talks to buy smaller Australian shipper GrainCorp to build up its platform in Asia.
The 10 percent purchase comes at a time of dramatic consolidation in the global grains sector amid intense competition to feed fast-developing countries seeking food security.
It also comes as the four “ABCD” firms that have dominated the global agricultural business for decades — ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus — are emerging from a period of dismal earnings, as tough new competitors and volatile markets fuelled by financial crises cut earnings.