Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — Louis Dreyfus Co. (LDC) has agreed to sell a 45 per cent stake to Abu Dhabi’s ADQ, the companies said on Wednesday, the first outside investment in the family-owned commodity merchant’s 169-year-old history. The deal comes after a search by chairwoman Margarita Louis-Dreyfus for an investor to relieve debt built up […] Read more
Louis Dreyfus to gain first outside investor
Abu Dhabi's ADQ fund to acquire indirect 45 per cent stake
Louis Dreyfus expects tough year on trade war, swine fever
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — Agricultural commodity giant Louis Dreyfus warned on Monday that international trade tensions and a swine disease epidemic would continue to weigh on its activities in the rest of the year after pushing down first-half profit. The interim results reversed a rebound in group profits in the second half of last year […] Read more
Shut out of China, Canada finds canola buyers in drought-damaged Europe
Reading Time: 3 minutes Winnipeg/Paris | Reuters — Crop-scorching drought in Europe is providing Canadian canola farmers a timely new opportunity to move supplies that have piled up since China stopped buying this year. Rising European sales are taking some of the sting out of losing the Chinese market for Canadian farmers, although ICE canola futures prices are down […] Read more
Louis Dreyfus top shareholder gets finance to buy out minorities
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters – Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, top shareholder of commodity giant Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), said she had secured financing for a deal that requires her to buy out family minorities, a move that has created uncertainty over the firm’s funding. Minority family shareholders asked in 2015 to sell 16.6 percent of LDC’s holding company […] Read more
Drought slashes EU wheat, export surplus to be cut
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hamburg | Reuters – Drought and a heatwave that scorched fields in northern Europe may cut the European Union’s wheat export surplus and the bloc will need to consume more of its own grains, experts said on Friday. French analysts Strategie Grains forecast a 10 percent smaller EU soft wheat harvest this year, with northern […] Read more
French court suspends pesticides over potential harm to bees
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — A French court suspended on Friday the licence for two pesticides made by Dow Chemical, citing uncertainty over environmental risks including their effects on bees. The preliminary ruling by an administrative court in the city of Nice overturned a decision by France’s health and environment agency ANSES in September to grant […] Read more
Grain company hunt goes on for Glencore
Reading Time: 2 minutes Geneva | Reuters — Commodities giant Glencore has made unsuccessful moves for three or four smaller targets in the grain sector this year as it seeks acquisitions to grow upstream, the head of its agricultural arm said. “We have looked at three or four possibilities in our core area already this year but couldn’t reach […] Read more
Dreyfus shareholders agree to arbitration over stake sale
Reading Time: 2 minutes Amsterdam/Paris | Reuters — Family shareholders of commodity trader Louis Dreyfus have agreed to arbitration talks to settle a long-running dispute over a share sale, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. The tussle concerns an attempt by minority shareholders to sell nearly 17 per cent of the group’s holding firm to Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, […] Read more
Dreyfus sees recovery after two-year profit slide
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — Louis Dreyfus’ core earnings fell for a second year in 2016 amid a persistent high supply of crops, but the agricultural commodity trader said a revamp of operations should help results this year. Large inventories, low prices and limited volatility have curbed margins in the past two years for companies that […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans fall on Argentina weather
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell to a 1-1/2-week low on Wednesday on an improved South American crop weather outlook while corn edged higher on export demand, traders said. Wheat sagged on ample old-crop supplies and a lack of supportive news. Chicago Board of Trade March soybean futures settled down 3-1/4 cents at $10.55-1/4 per […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
