Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Wilmar International Ltd. have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding, indicating their intent to work together in a strategic partnership in global fertilizer purchasing and distribution, global ocean freight operations, and tropical oils refining in Europe.
Collaborations between ADM and Wilmar began in the mid-1990s, when they jointly built a network of soybean processing operations in China. Today, ADM owns a 16 percent equity stake in Wilmar. The companies have significant supplier relationships with each other.
The recent memorandum of understanding says that: in the global fertilizer business, the companies will collaborate on purchasing and distribution; in ocean freight, they will partner to improve the utilization and management of their shipping fleets, with each company initially contributing two ships to the effort; and in tropical oil refining in Europe, they will work together to optimize refining capacity utilization. The memorandum of understanding is subject to the execution of definitive agreements with respect to the strategic partnership. ADM and Wilmar will look to finalize the definitive agreements over the next few months.
ADM Chairman and CEO Patricia Woertz said, "We have an excellent relationship with Wilmar’s leadership, and we see Wilmar as a key partner, especially in our strategy to serve growing Asian demand for agricultural products. Our teams are currently working together on many projects, and we look forward to finding more opportunities to work with our friends and partners at Wilmar."
Mr. Kuok Khoon Hong, Wilmar’s Chairman and CEO, said, "Our long association with ADM and the ability of both companies to tap on each other’s synergies, helped build our successful Asian operations. It is now the intention to extend that co-operation globally, initially in the areas outlined in our memorandum of understanding."
Today, 30,000 ADM employees around the globe convert oilseeds, corn, wheat and cocoa into products for food, animal feed, industrial and energy uses. With more than 265 processing plants, 400 crop procurement facilities, and the world’s premier crop transportation network, ADM helps connect the harvest to the home in more than 160 countries. For more information about ADM and its products, visit www.adm.com.
Wilmar, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Singapore, claims to be Asia’s leading agribusiness group. Wilmar is ranked amongst the largest listed companies by market capitalization on the Singapore Exchange.
Wilmar’s business activities include oil palm cultivation, oilseeds crushing, edible oils refining, sugar milling and refining, specialty fats, oleochemicals, biodiesel and fertilizers manufacturing and grains processing. At the core of Wilmar’s strategy is a resilient integrated agribusiness model that encompasses the entire value chain of the agricultural commodity processing business, from origination and processing to branding, merchandising and distribution of a wide range of agricultural products. It has over 300 manufacturing plants and an extensive distribution network covering China, India, Indonesia and some 50 other countries. The Group is backed by a multinational workforce of more than 90,000 people.