ONE of the world’s largest grain traders, Louis Dreyfus, has slowly started with a small team of regional representatives to acquire grain direct from the farmer, and this year will be active in a range of markets across Australia.
Despite trading here since 1913, the company has been content to keep a low profile, mainly filling its needs through purchasing from the trade in the days of the single wheat export desk, rather than direct from the farmer.
Today, Louis Dreyfus is an active buyer of wheat, barley, sorghum and canola, and has an accumulation network with offices in the Riverina, WA and Goondiwindi, Qld, with the head office in Melbourne.
The focus will be on grain and oilseed accumulation, with the company looking at the export market.
With this in mind, it has raised its profile in a bid to accumulate the grain for its customers.
Speaking at a farmers’ grain marketing meeting at Tungamah, Victoria, Louis Dreyfus’ southern NSW/Victoria regional manager Bill Dudley, Deniliquin, NSW, said the company had a leg-up compared to other accumulators looking to increase their presence in the Australian market, due to the company’s international reputation.
“Louis Dreyfus Australia’s ties with the wider business mean we have strong links through the supply chain in areas such as customer relationships, freight and logistics,” he said.
“There is also the comfort of knowing you are dealing with a big and reputable company, even though Louis Dreyfus is not widely known as a direct purchaser of Australian grain.”
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