Louis Dreyfus Commodities expands orange juice operations following acquisition of new plant
Industrial plant located in Paranavaí-PR will add more than 20 thousand tons to the company’s annual juice output
Louis Dreyfus Commodities (LDC) has just announced the acquisition of an orange juice plant from Cocamar, an agroindustrial cooperative – located in Paranavaí, in the state of Paraná. With this transaction, Louis Dreyfus Commodities will add more than 20 thousand tons in juice concentrate to its annual output.
As a result, the company’s share of the domestic juice market will rise from 17% to 19% and expand its operations to another Brazilian state. To date, all of the company’s juice processing plants were located within Sao Paulo.
“This acquisition reflects LDC’s goal of further consolidating its position as one of the major players in the Brazilian orange juice market. Within this context, its participation in Parana is strategic. Citrus farming is well developed throughout the state and the region offers great potential for expansion,” said Brazil Juice Platform head in Brazil, Henrique Freitas.
The executive pointed out that over the past five years, the company has registered 21% annual growth in the volume of oranges processed. “Last season alone (2011-2012) we saw a 77% jump in fruit processing compared with the previous season (2010-2011).”
The recently acquired unit has 100 employees and was built by Cocamar in 1990. It began processing orange juice in 1994. We intend to maintain contracts with local fruit suppliers, who are members of the Cocamar cooperative and who we have worked with for many years on other business platforms as well.
Louis Dreyfus Commodities is a global agri-commodities leader. The Group’s portfolio includes Oilseeds, Grains, Rice, Freight, Finance, Juice, Cotton, Coffee, Sugar, Metals, Milk, Fertilizers and Sugar and Ethanol mills businesses.
With 160 years in the commodities business, Louis Dreyfus Commodities maintains a dynamic culture with 35 000 employees at peak season, and offices in more than 55 countries.
Louis Dreyfus Commodities Brasil is part of the Louis Dreyfus Commodities Group. Operating in Brazil since the 1940s’ in the main producer regions, with units in the South, Southeast, Northeast and Midwest. Based in Sao Paulo, the company has five oilseed processing plants, four orange juice plants, eight fertilizer plants, five port terminals, thirteen sugar and ethanol plants (LDC-SEV), two river terminals and over 30 grain silos.
