Cargill snaps up soybean crusher in Chinese auction

US-headquartered agribusiness major Cargill has strengthened its presence in the world’s largest soybean importing nation, acquiring a crusher based in north China, according to a court document seen by Agricensus on Tuesday.

The company’s bid for assets and facilities owned by Shandong Xinliang Oil Ltd trumped all other competitors in an auction hosted by the a court in the city of Rizhao, the document showed.

The document, dated September 15, showed Cargill won the auction with “the highest price” at CNY421 million ($62 million).

The ownership of “land-use rights, real estate, production equipment and other attachments under the company’s name” will be transferred to Cargill.

The acquisition will expand Cargill’s crush capacity in China to a total of five crushing facilities across the country – in line with Bunge as the top two crushers among the so-called ABCD.

However, Cargill can only rank as the seventh or eighth largest crusher in China behind crushing giants including Cofco, Sinograin, Wilmar and Jiusan.

China is the world’s largest soybean importer, which is expected to buy up to 99 million mt of soybeans in 2020/21 marketing year.