NEWS IN BRIEF UK: Swiss speciality chemicals company Clariant said on 28 December that it had agreed to acquire German chemical giant BASFâs US attapulgite business for US$60M, including a longterm supply agreement for attapulgite-based products to BASF. Attapulgite is a naturally occurring mineral with colloidal, absorbent and adsorbent properties. BASFâs attapulgite business is one of the largest in North America, with mining operations in Georgia and Florida and processing operations in Quincy, Florida. The company produces attapulgite-based products for a wide range of applications and sectors, including bleaching earths for edible oils.
Viterra to buy Gavilon grain/ingredients unit Glencoreâs agriculture division Viterra has reached an agreement to acquire the grain and ingredients business of US oilseed and ingredients firm Gavilon from Marubeni. The US$1.125bn acquisition is expected to be finalised in the second half of this year, Viterra said on 26 January. Gavilon sources, stores and distributes grains, oilseeds and feed and food ingredients to food manufacturers, soyabean processors, and livestock and ethanol producers worldwide. The company has 105 grain storage facilities and a total grain storage capacity of 345.5M bushels, according to Sosland Publishingâs Grain & Milling Annual 2022. These assets are located in key growing areas in the USA, with access to major railways, rivers and ports. The company is active in Asia, Europe, Mexico and South America, with an indirect ownership interest in two port terminals in Washington and Oregon.
Marubeni, which acquired Gavilon in 2013, said the transaction would not include eight Gavilon grain elevators in northern USA, with those elevators transferring to Marubeni subsidiary Columbia Grain International, World Grain wrote on 26 January. In addition, part of the equity interest of Kalama Holdco, a joint venture grain export terminal business on the US West Coast held by Gavilon, would be transferred to Columbia Grain. Formerly known as Glencore Agriculture, Viterra has a network of agricultural storage, processing and transport operations. It has 85 grain storage facilities with a total storage capacity of 120.36M bushels in North America, according to the Grain & Milling Annual 2022. âThe addition of Gavilon supports our longterm strategy of significantly increasing our presence in the USA â one of the major producing and exporting regions, â Viterra said.
An acute shortage of rapeseed supply across Germany has made securing feedstock problematic for oilseed millers and processors, with an estimated 1.4M tonnes of the crop needed to maintain operations, AgriCensus said on 14 January. The crisis comes against a backdrop of record high rapeseed oil prices, which had promoted oilseed processing amid good crush margins. âGerman oil mills are in a critical situation because they are not getting the oilseed material
Photo: Pixabay
Acute rapeseed shortage hits German oilseed sector
needed for processing,â said Stephan Arens, from Germanyâs
Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants.
Last year saw a smaller-than-expected global rapeseed crop, with output falling 7% compared to the five-year average, and a drought in Canada cutting production there, AgriCensus wrote. While the rapeseed crop in Germany was expected to expand by about 80,000ha or 9% compared to last year, factors such as high fertiliser costs and insect problems could affect yields, AgriCensus said. Germany is Europeâs leading rapeseed producer.
Cargill commits to WHO guide on industrial trans fatty acids Global agribusiness giant Cargill announced on 6 December that it had committed its complete edible oils portfolio to the World Health Organizationâs (WHOâs) best practice on industrially-produced trans fatty acids (iTFAs). Cargill said the move would help the company and its customers comply with the WHOâs recommended standard of a maximum of 2g iTFA/100g fats and oils by the end of 2023. The WHO's REPLACE initiative provides a guide for governments and industry to implement best practice on iTFA in the 4 OFI â FEBRUARY 2022
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global food supply chain to address related health concerns. In making the move, Cargill joins many of the worldâs largest food companies and members of the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) who have committed to the WHO goal. Over the last 25 years, Cargill said it had removed an estimated 500,000 tonnes of iTFAs from the global food supply, resulting in approximately 89% of its global edible oils portfolio meeting the WHO's iTFA best practice to date. To achieve the final 11%, Cargill said it
was investing in upgrades at a number of facilities to reduce the amount of iTFAs produced during the oil manufacturing process and developing alternative formulations. Primarily formed through the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils (PHO), iTFAs also result from high thermal treatment during the refining process. Cargill said that while iTFA regulations were in place in some 40 countries, either through PHO bans or limits to maximum amounts of iTFAs in food, they remained a health concern in many locations. www.ofimagazine.com
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