The Dorset-based Mercury Commodities had been acting as a sole agent for the soya-bean product supplies of Glencore Agriculture for the past 18-months. Now, the company’s complete assets of employees and expertise, along with its international deep-water terminal and storage facilities on the Isle of Portland, have become an integral part of the UKs fastest growing feed supply business.
Glencore Agriculture UK Managing Director, James Maw, highlighted the complementary acquisition meant the company now offered a full range of animal feed ingredients. It would serve to support UK livestock farmers through its cost-effective source of high-quality feed products for feed manufacturing businesses, along with benefitting arable growers supplying into the domestic market through its grain marketing operation.
“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.”
With the first wholly owned portside facilities for Glencore Agriculture UK, the Portland site will give the company an exciting new 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.”
James Maw reported that, at the same time as integrating the employees of Mercury Commodities, Glencore Agriculture UK is expanding and taking on additional traders to service the growing grain and feed product business.
“This represents the next phase in the development of Glencore Agriculture UK’s commitment to support the entire farming sector,” he said.
“With uncertainty over the future of export opportunities and international markets, we can seek to connect and enhance domestic consumption for arable grain, oilseeds and protein crops, to supply a productive and viable livestock sector. The move will secure and fulfil UK demand, as well as to exploit any export opportunity to improve returns for UK farmers.”
