Cargill Makes Binding Offer for Three Soy Crushing Plants in Brazil

Cargill is seeking to boost its biodiesel production and is applying for antitrust approval from the Brazilian government for an undisclosed binding offer it has made to acquire three soy crushing and biodiesel plants from Granol, a privately owned soy crushing company.

If the deal, which includes crushing and biodiesel plants and four warehouses in the cities of Anapolis, Porto Nacional, and Cachoeira do Sul, goes through, Cargill would then be neck-and-neck with Bunge, owning nine soy crushing plants in the country.

As Brazil is currently seeing a significant uptick in its soybean production, this move by Cargill is being viewed as a signal of consolidation happening in the country’s soy crushing industry at a time when soybean supplies are cheap.

Sixty-eight percent of Brazil’s biodiesel is produced from soybeans, according to Abiove, which estimates that the country’s biofuel output for the year will top 7 billion liters. Of that output, the annual production capacity for the three Granol plants involved in this deal is 887 million liters.

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