Chicago | Reuters — Grain handler Lansing Trade Group LLC is buying Interstate Commodities, marking another step in consolidation that is rippling through the U.S. agriculture sector as persistently low prices keep pressure on profits.
The combined companies could handle as much as seven per cent of the U.S. corn supply of over 15 billion bushels, according to the companies’ websites.
“Both Lansing and Interstate believe the industry needs consolidation and want to be out at the forefront of a more efficient and customer-focused business model,” Lansing CEO Bill Krueger said in a joint statement with Interstate on Tuesday.
Read Also
Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
Interstate last year sold two grain elevators in Ohio to Smithfield Foods. Smithfield, the world’s biggest pork producer, was seeking to eliminate middlemen such as grain handlers in a push to buy directly from farmers.
Glencore Agriculture, jointly owned by Glencore and two Canadian pension funds, last month approached Bunge about a merger after Bunge CEO Soren Schroder said consolidation was needed.
Lansing, which operates a Canadian trading office in Vancouver, was founded in 1922 and handles nearly one billion bushels of corn annually, supplying livestock producers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, according to its website.
Grain and energy trader The Andersons owns about 39 per cent of Lansing Trade Group. The two companies also operate Ontario grain and oilseed handler Thompsons through a joint venture.
Lansing in 2015 also sold about 20 per cent of its equity for US$127.5 million in cash to New Hope Liuhe Investment Inc, a U.S. subsidiary of Chinese hog and feed company, New Hope Liuhe Co., according to a press release on its website.
Interstate Commodities handles about 200 million bushels of grain with annual sales of US$2 billion at elevators and rail terminals in South Dakota, Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio and other U.S. states, according to its website.
“Lansing and Interstate have had a strong relationship for decades and believe now is the perfect time to combine our teams,” Interstate CEO Greg Oberting said in a statement. “As a combined company, we will be able to grow both organically and through additional acquisitions.”
The deal was expected to close in the third quarter. Terms were not disclosed.
— Michael Hirtzer reports on commodity markets for Reuters from Chicago.
