US grain merchants ADM and Cargill reach deal to swap grain elevators

Large-scale US grain merchants Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) have reached a deal to swap a number of their grain elevators in the US Midwest, according to a report published by Reuters.

Both companies, among the largest grain merchants in the world, said the swap would increase efficiency and fit both companies’ long-term strategies,

Expected to close later this summer, the deal includes the sale of Cargill’s Mount Vernon and Evansville, Indiana, elevators on the Ohio River to ADM. In return, ADM is set to sell its Beardstown, Naples and Keithsburg, Illinois, elevators along the Illinois River to Cargill.

Following a global glut of grain, ADM and Cargill have been cutting costs and restructuring operations in recent years. The deals would effectively reduce the number of buyers competing for farmers’ crops in some areas.

ADM and Cargill did not release financial terms of the deal.