New grain feed business assures direct global supplies for UK feed mills

Glencore Grain is to launch a new animal feed products marketing business in the UK, providing feed compounders and manufacturers with direct access to the company’s huge global resource of high quality raw materials.

Globally, Glencore Agri-Products is one of the world’s major crushers of soya bean and oilseed rape, along with the production of crush co-products, including soya bean meal and hulls. The company is actively expanding its crush capacity, particularly in South America.

High-quality co-products of the crush will now be readily and consistently available for UK buyers, through large-scale panamax deep water ports, in Portland, Dorset on the south coast and new bespoke import and storage facilities at Teesport in the North East.

The company will be working with the well-established Portland-based, Mercury Commodities, to develop the market in the UK.

Glencore Grain UK Managing Director, James Maw, highlighted that the opening of dedicated import facilities and a direct distribution channel into the UK, now gives a fully accredited and assured supply chain for quality products, right through from the crush to UK consumers.

“We already supply whole grains to leading UK animal feed compounders and manufacturers. Working with the market knowledge and experience of Mercury Commodities, we can build on that business to now offer feed compounders and manufactures a complete offer for the bulk of their raw materials.

“Glencore has a reliable distribution network, full governance procedures and the proven reputation to assure the consistent delivery of high-quality products direct to the end-user,” he said. “The company already has direct supply chains to feed compounders, including most parts of Europe, North and South America, Australia and Asia; which we have now extended into the UK.”

Mr Maw highlighted the selected high-capacity import and distribution sites would give quick and cost-effective access to the prime livestock producing centres of the UK, including the major pig and poultry markets of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Humberside, along with cattle production in the south west, north west and Scotland.

Frank Nickel, Director of Mercury Commodities, believed the new direct supply chain, from Glencore’s global production right through to UK feed businesses, offered an exciting opportunity to market the supply of high quality feed products.

“The long-term direct supply of Glencore products allows us to further invest in cost-effective facilities,” he said. “That will ensure we can continue to improve the service to our existing customers, and to work with an increasing new customer base of feed businesses across the UK.

“We look forward to working with Glencore to further develop the feed business in the future,” Mr Nickel added.