Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp. MARUY 0.91 % is set to increase its investment in Gavilon, the U.S.-based grain trader it bought two years ago, in an attempt to turn around the division’s disappointing performance, a senior company executive said.
Poor harvests in the past couple of years in the U.S. have hit Gavilon’s earnings, while it has taken longer-than-expected for Marubeni to streamline its operations. In turn, that has given rise to speculation Marubeni could look to offload its investment.
But Keizo Torii, chief operating officer of Marubeni’s grain division, said the company had no plans to sell Gavilon. Instead, it plans to secure facilities that will allow it to export an extra 7 million metric tons a year of grain from the Gulf of Mexico, he said.
“Exporting capability is one of the most necessary things to fully leverage Gavilon’s potential,” Mr. Torii told The Wall Street Journal.
