Cargill announced Feb. 17 that it is going to stop providing crop inputs to farmers in Hungary, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Poland by the end of May.

These changes are expected to potentially impact about 180 employees across the countries involved. A consultation process has begun in the impacted countries.

Going forward, the company will focus its attention on its grain and oilseeds origination, merchandizing and trading activities in these markets.

While Cargill’s crop inputs business has had some successes in Eastern Europe, the company has been unable to realize many of the expected synergies between origination and crop inputs.

Cargill is changing its focus in the Black Sea region from inputs to origination, merchandizing and trade.

The Black Sea region remains a key focus for strategic growth and Cargill will continue to strengthen its existing investments and operations, including its network of port terminals and oilseed crush plants in the region.

In January, Cargill announced it was closing its London shipping office and consolidating freight activities into Geneva because of challenges in the freight market.

In December, it sold its crop insurance agency, Cargill Crop Insurance LLC, to Silveus Insurance Group, one of the largest crop insurance agencies in the United States. Cargill entered the crop insurance business in 2007.

Source: Cargill

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Reuters – Cargill to stop selling seeds, crop chemicals in Black Sea region The global trader is cutting back in the face of sliding commodity prices.