COFCO Int'l to double grain purchases in Black Sea region

COFCO International plans to double its grain purchases in the Black Sea region as part of a global expansion to help serve markets beyond China, Reuters informs.

"COFCO International aims to double the volume of grains it sources from the region “in the next two to three years,” Jingtao (Johnny) Chi, Chairman of the Chinese-owned agricultural trading group, said on Tuesday.

Chi said the firm traded 106 million tons of commodities last year and aims to increase the amount of crops it buys directly from farmers outside China to over 60 million tons by 2022, compared with 40 million last year.

COFCO International is controlled by Chinese food group COFCO Corp and became a global commodities trading house following its acquisition of grain trader Nidera and the agribusiness of Noble Group.

As previously reported, COFCO International Ltd is partnering with Archer Daniels Midland Company, Bunge Limited, Cargill Incorporated и Louis Dreyfus Company to standardize and digitize global agricultural shipping transactions.