Glencore Agriculture is involved in the origination, handling, processing and marketing of agricultural commodities and products, which includes operations in more than 35 countries and over 13,000 employees.
In Argentina, it has purchased a further 16.67% of Renova from its partner in that joint venture, Vicentin, making Glencore Agriculture now the majority owner with a 66.67% stake.
It established the JV with Vicentin, which is a diversified agribusiness and one of the largest Argentinian exporters of soy and soy products, in 2006. Glencore Agriculture has continued investing in the business since then.
Renova has several assets in Argentina, including a soy processing facility in Timbues, which was constructed in 2012 and expanded in 2019. That site has the capacity to crush 32,500 tons of soybeans per day. The plant has its own port facility and loads soybean oil, soybean meal and corn for export to destinations around the world.
“Through our majority ownership of Renova, we will continue to provide an efficient and sustainable supply chain for the Argentinian industry and the region’s expanding production of soybeans and corn,” said Sergio Gancberg, regional director for South America, Glencore Agriculture.
Glencore Agriculture CEO, David Mattiske, added that the company was very confident about the future of the agriculture industry in Argentina.
Vicentin's struggles
However, Glencore's acquisition of the additional stake in Renova comes at a time when its JV partner, Vicentin, is allegedly under pressure.
On December 4, 2019, that Argentinian company released a statement that it was experiencing financial difficulty and that it was initiating a process to restructure payments owed to creditors.
A USDA report, citing media reports and private sources, claimed that Vicentin had halted crushing operations at some facilities and was in negotiation to restructure its debts, sell facilities, and was also seeking assistance from the Argentinian government.
Glencore declined to comment on Vicentin's reported challenges.