Grain merchant Glencore Agriculture UK has completed the full asset acquisition of one of the country’s leading animal feed product suppliers, Mercury Commodities.
Glencore Agriculture UK LTD is part of Glencore plc, one of the world’s largest global diversified natural resource companies.
It has acquired Dorset-based Mercury Commodities, which had been acting as a sole agent for the soya-bean product supplies of Glencore Agriculture for the past 18-months.
The company now has complete assets of employees and expertise, along with its international deep-water terminal and storage facilities on the Isle of Portland.
Glencore Agriculture UK Managing Director, James Maw, highlighted the complementary acquisition meant the company now offered a full range of animal feed ingredients.
“Glencore Agriculture is unique in being able to offer customers full traceability and secure supply chain management on a global business scale,” he said.
“We offer the security of dealing with a well-established and financially secure international business, whilst also offering reliable local contacts and unrivalled experience of the animal feed product industry within the expanding UK operation.”
Portside facilities
With the first wholly owned portside facilities for Glencore Agriculture UK, the Portland site will give the company a platform for the import of animal feeds from Glencore Agriculture’s global crop processing facilities.
“We are looking to further invest and extend the site’s capacity and capability, alongside working with expanding the import arrangements at Teesport and other ports - to fulfil the major livestock areas of the UK and supply an increasing nationwide customer base,” reported Mr Maw.
He added that the existing 50,000 tonnes of modern storage and handling facilities at Portland also offered a 'highly responsive' export route for arable farmers in the south of England, to take advantage of any trade opportunities for milling wheat or spring barley, for example.
Existing Mercury Commodities trading arrangements will continue until later this month, when all new business contracts and operations will switch to the Glencore Agriculture UK umbrella.
Mercury Commodities’ Directors, Frank Nickel and Will Watt, will respectively become Head of Animal Feed Products and Head of Feed Product Marketing for Glencore Agriculture UK.
Commenting on the development, Frank Nickel, said: “We are incredibly excited to become part of the Glencore Agriculture business. It gives us the expanded product portfolio and the financial backing to grow the feed business and to enhance the service for our customers.”
