Bunge and Senwes to Further Expand in Oil Seeds

“The combination of Bunge and Senwes’ capabilities is unique and both parties are confident we will deliver benefits quickly and over the long-term for all the players of this new South African food and feed chain, from farmers to final consumers,” said Jean-Louis Gourbin, Bunge EMEA CEO.

Feb 24 2012 --- Bunge Limited, through Bunge EMEA (Bunge Europe, Middle East and Africa), and Senwes Ltd, announced that they will jointly investigate the opportunity to build a large-scale oilseeds crushing plant in South Africa to respond to a growing protein and vegetable oil market in South Africa.

The intended project will expand the existing Bunge Senwes joint venture, which is operating successfully in the wheat and yellow maize commodity trading markets, and combine Bunge’s extensive international trading network, renowned expertise in risk management and in-depth know-how in global industrial operations with Senwes’ leading procurement capabilities, strong relationship with commercial producers and recognized contribution to the sustainable development of agriculture in South Africa.

“The combination of Bunge and Senwes’ capabilities is unique and both parties are confident we will deliver benefits quickly and over the long-term for all the players of this new South African food and feed chain, from farmers to final consumers,” said Jean-Louis Gourbin, Bunge EMEA CEO. “The project will focus strongly on local sourcing of oilseeds which will provide a profitable crop alternative for local producers,” added François Strydom, Senwes Managing Director.

The envisaged state-of-the-art, low cost crushing plant will be ideally located close to the oilseeds production area and customers and processors’ facilities, and would crush 2 000 tonnes per day or 660 000 tonnes per year, with the ability to expand to 3 000 tonnes per day.