Cargill Acquires Chinese Soybean Processor in Auction
Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. agricultural commodities trader and processor Cargill Inc has acquired a soy processing facility in eastern China via a judicial auction, the company said late on Tuesday, expanding its crushing capacity in the world's top soy consuming nation.
The company bought the facility in Rizhao, Shandong Province, previously owned by Shandong Xinliang Oils & Fats Co Ltd with a final bid of 421 million yuan, or about $62 million, the company said in an email to Reuters.
Cargill, the largest privately owned U.S. company, is among the largest foreign soy processors in China, though its crushing capacity in the country is dwarfed by Chinese-owned processors such as COFCO and Jiusan.
China, the world's top soybean buyer, is expected to import a record 99 million tonnes of the oilseed in the 2020/21 season, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago Editing by Matthew Lewis)
