ED&F Man is winding down its grains business, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday, in the latest leg of restructuring at the centuries-old commodities merchant. The employee-owned agricultural commodities and brokerage group, established in 1783, announced a restructuring of its core sugar business as it struggled to cope with surplus stocks depressing prices.
The sources, who declined to be identified, said Man was in the process of exiting the grains business. "They are not taking on any new (trading) positions in grains," one of the sources said.
A spokesman for the company had no immediate comment on the status of its grain business. In October Man said CEO Phil Howell would leave as part of a senior management reshuffle after what it described as "a very challenging year". This followed an earlier announcement in October that the managing director of its commodities division, Jan Kees van der Wild, had decided to step down.
The company's wider portfolio includes businesses involved in trading coffee, molasses and animal feeds, grains, pulses, shipping and capital markets as well as sugar. Man had expanded its grain trading business in recent years, seeking to diversify as its core sugar business battled a price rout linked to the European Union's re-emergence as an exporter of refined sweetener.
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