(Dave Bedard photo)

Glencore reported in talks on agriculture assets

Reuters — Glencore is in talks with a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund and China’s state-backed grain trader COFCO, along with Canadian pension funds, to sell a stake in its agricultural assets, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Selling assets is one prong of a wider strategy by the Swiss-based trader and miner to

(CHS Inc.)

CHS says Viterra intriguing at right price

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. farm co-operative and grains trader CHS Inc. would be interested in the Canadian grain handling assets of embattled commodities trader Glencore, but only if they came at a discounted price, CHS CEO Carl Casale said in an exclusive interview. As part of a debt-reduction plan, Swiss-based Glencore has said it



Winnipeg-based Legumex Walker’s pulse plants are Scoular’s first major play in the Prairie crops sector. (Dave Bedard photo)

Grain handler Scoular on hunt for more Canadian buys

Winnipeg | Reuters — U.S. crop handler The Scoular Co. is looking to acquire stakes in grain and oilseeds facilities in Western Canada, fresh off agreeing to its first major purchase in the crop-growing belt, the private company’s chief operating officer said Monday. Scoular last week agreed to pay $94 million for the special crops



Mayo Schmidt, shown here in Winnipeg in 2007, led Viterra until 2012. (Dave Bedard photo)

Ex-Viterra chief to take Ontario’s Hydro One public

The chief executive who morphed Saskatchewan Wheat Pool from a debt-crushed grain handler into Viterra, then oversaw its sale to Glencore, has been tapped to take Ontario’s Crown-owned power utility public. Toronto-based Hydro One on Thursday announced Mayo Schmidt as its new president and CEO effective Sept. 3, replacing Carmine Marcello. “We believe that Mr.


The Andersons Grain Group’s Toledo-area elevator at Maumee, Ohio. (AndersonsGrain.com)

Andersons shares up after report hints Glencore interest

Reuters — Shares of U.S.-based agribusiness Andersons Inc. jumped more than six per cent on Friday, outpacing the sector, after a Bloomberg News report speculated that Glencore could be interested in acquiring the company. The story mentioned Glencore’s interest in expanding its agricultural assets and named Ohio-based Andersons as well as privately held companies Scoular

(Dave Bedard photo)

Viterra boosts Glencore results

Commodity giant Glencore saw its earnings from mining and oils drop last year, but saw a 172 per cent increase in its earnings from agricultural trading — largely due to results from Viterra. The world’s largest commodity trader on Monday reported overall EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $12.8 billion on sales


(Dave Bedard photo)

Ex-Viterra chief returns to Agrium board

No longer lined up to lead Louis Dreyfus’ global commodities operations, Mayo Schmidt is back on the board of one of the world’s major ag retail and fertilizer firms. Schmidt — previously CEO at Viterra, Canada’s biggest grain handling firm, from 2000 to 2012 — had stepped down last month from Calgary-based Agrium’s board of directors in light of