French commodities trader Louis Dreyfus said on Tuesday it bought Brazilian fertilizer maker Macrofertil, highlighting its push into the agriculture-inputs sector in the South American farming powerhouse.

Dreyfus's local subsidiary, Louis Dreyfus Commodities (LDC), has been operating in Brazil's growing fertilizer market since 2008 but as a distributor only.

LD Commodities is a world leader in the processing of agricultural products and the merchandising of a diverse range of commodities. The Group is privately held by the Louis-Dreyfus family, controlled by the Robert Louis-Dreyfus trust and approximately 20% employee-owned.

Founded and based in Europe, LD Commodities enjoys strong regional presence in North and South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle-East and Africa.

LD Commodities has been operational for close to 160 years of experience and expansion in the field of agricultural commodities. Today, with offices in more than 55 countries and over 34,000 employees at the peak season, the Group stands strong, pragmatic and diversified, guided by a multi-cultural management staff devoted to its aims and to its unique business model.

At the heart of this model is a globally diversified business portfolio, keenly focused on strategically developing and protecting its positions up and down the value chain. With its commodity platforms integrated from farm to consumer, coupled with optimally located production and processing assets, the Group boasts a careful manages risks at every level in every sector.

The Group’s diversification and environmentally-sound, socially-responsible expansion strategy has enabled it to post outstanding, sustainable year-on-year growth, with six leadership positions and ten major trade flows covered: it is the number one cotton and rice merchant worldwide and ranks in the top three in orange juice, wheat, corn and sugar and in the top five in oilseeds and coffee. In addition, LD Commodities is the second largest sugarcane crushing group in the world.

LDC has continued asset base growth by investing to support the growth in demand for agricultural products and creating value at every step of its business.

Brazil, the world’s fourth-largest fertilizer consumer, still needs to import crop nutrients as domestic supply expands, according to Eduardo Daher, executive director of the Brazilian Crop Protection Association.

The country doesn’t have enough natural gas, the raw material for nitrogen fertilizers, or reserves of potash and phosphorus rock to meet internal demand. Even discoveries of the minerals are not enough to sustain fertilizer production in the country.

15th June 2011