Cargill India to re-enter cereal business

Edible oil manufacturer Cargill India plans to re-enter the cereals business in domestic market.

“We are intending to re-enter the cereals business for diversifying our product portfolio,” Siraj Chaudhry, country head and CEO, Cargill Foods India said on Friday.

“Our interest would be in basic cereals. Commodity business is a very low margin business. High volumes do not mean high profits. Our definition of investment is not assets only,” Chaudhry told reporters on the sidelines of an IIFT seminar here.

The company, a subsidiary of US-based Cargill, also operates in the trading and marketing of refined oils, grain and oilseeds, sugar, cotton, and animal feed.

Cargill India had its own refineries at Paradip with 900 tonne a day capacity, Kandla with 1,200 tonne a day and Kurkumbh (Maharashtra) with 1,600 tonne a day.

To a query, he said Cargill India was having a market share of 12 per cent to 14 per cent in the organised market.

Cargill India earned a revenue of Rs 3,800 crore from selling edible oils in 2010-11 and aims to grow at par with the industry at 8 per cent to 10 per cent, he said.

The company exited the transgenic seeds business in 2006.