China’s largest state-owned food and feed company appears to be establishing a presence in Western Canada’s grain industry.
According to listings on the company’s LinkedIn page, COFCO Agri is hiring three grain traders and an operations manager “for a newly-formed Winnipeg, Manitoba office,” as Rod Nickel of Reuters first reported on Friday.
The traders will be expected to “help develop and maintain cash feed grains trading business in major Canadian markets”, as well as “support the company’s Canadian export program and support pricing of in house trade flows…”
COFCO had a long relationship with the Canadian Wheat Board, dating back to 1961. The Canadian International Grains Institute in Winnipeg has also conducted training and education programs with COFCO employees over the years.
COFCO, short for China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation, joins a list of grain companies, including G3, Broadgrain, GrainCorp, Scoular, and CHS, that have sought an increased presence in Western Canada since the end of the wheat board’s single desk in 2012.
COFCO Agri reported sales of $14.9 billion last year, with 9,500 employees in 29 countries.
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