Cargill looking at more options in Australia

Cargill are likely to pursue further expansion in Australia after the company bought the grains business of the former AWB Ltd., the nation’s top wheat exporter, to tap soaring food demand in Asia.

“Cargill will continue to look for opportunities in Australia because we are about growth and Australia is an attractive location for us and we have been here for many years already,” Cargill Australia General Manager Robert Green said in Melbourne today, reported Bloomberg.

The company would first focus on integrating yesterday’s announced purchase of the AWB commodity management business from Agrium Inc., he said.

Sumitomo Corp., Viterra Inc. and Cargill are growing in Australia, the fourth-largest wheat exporter, as global demand rises for farm commodities and after the government two years ago ended AWB’s monopoly on shipments of the grain.

Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea were the largest buyers of the country’s wheat in 2009-2010, according to trade statistics.