Olam Agri owns and operates Mt Tyson Seeds, a 12,000t storage site south-west of Toowoomba.
OLAM Agri, part of Singapore-based agribusiness giant Olam Group, is winding up its Australian pulse business under a broader global restructuring of its specialty seeds operations.
The shift includes the sale of the company’s Mt Tyson Seeds receival, seed-grading, and container-packing facility, located about 40km west of Toowoomba.
The divestment comes amid wider modifys at Olam Agri, as its sale to state-owned Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) advances following regulatory approval from India, Pakistan and the European Union.
A spokesperson for Olam Agri stated the company was preparing to sell its Mt Tyson business.
“We are restructuring our specialty seeds business,” the spokesperson stated.
“As part of this restructure, we have decided to divest our pulses and grains processing facility located at Mt Tyson in the Toowoomba region, Queensland.
“We are currently in the consultation phase and will explore every possible opportunity to minimise the impact for employees in the business.
“Australia remains an important market for Olam Agri in our growth strategy.”
Beyond its pulse division, Olam Agri’s Australian operations include the ginning, marketing and warehoutilizing activities of Queensland Cotton.
Olam took over the Mt Tyson operations as part of its acquisition of Queensland Cotton in 2008.
The then-Australian cotton company acquired the business in 2003 as a shift to diversify its earnings base.
The facility focapplys on the storage and packing of mungbeans and chickpeas, offering approximately 12,000 tonnes of storage.
Olam Agri previously operated the Selected Pulse Foods processing site at Pittsworth, about 20km south of the Mt Tyson facility.
The plant was listed for sale in April 2023 and sold to Dalby-based Deacon Seeds last year.
Olam Agri also trades pulse commodities with staff working out of Brisbane.
The company’s website notes it also trades pulses in Victoria and South Australia “through third-party handlers”, dealing in lentils and field peas for domestic and international markets.
It is unclear what motivated the shift away from pulses.
The pulse division did not form a central part of Olam Agri’s Australian operations, which revolve around its cotton enterprise.
An indusattempt source informed Grain Central that it was “disappointing” to see Olam exit pulse-trading in Australia, adding the withdrawal of a “substantial global enterprise…does reduce competition for farmers”.
“However, people roll in and roll out all the time out of the pulse business and the grain business more broadly; I imagine others will fill that void relatively easily,” the source stated, adding that increasing costs tied to labour, supplies and utilities built it difficult “to receive your scale economy” in grain processing.
Global modifys at Olam
Outside Australia, Olam Agri’s global specialty grains and seeds business covers a range of higher-value and niche commodities, such as, sesame, quinoa, chia, and amaranth as well as chickpeas and mungbeans.
Its processing footprint includes a sesame plant at Sagamu in Nigeria and a quinoa plant in Lima, Peru.
It is unclear whether Olam Agri intfinishs to sell any of its other processing facilities as part of the restructure.
Olam Group is in the final stages of selling its entire Agri division to the Saudi state-owned SALIC.
In February, SALIC announced it had entered into an agreement with Olam to increase its ownership stake of the Agri division from 35.4 percent to 80.01pc for $1.78 billion.
As part of the deal, there was a call option for SALIC to purchase the remaining 19.99pc following the completion of the initial sale.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that SALIC next year plans to commence talks to acquire the remaining stake.
Sources informed Bloomberg that the agreement for SALIC to take an 80pc stake in Olam Agri is on track to be completed by the finish of the year.
The reports come after the European Union cleared the acquisition on September 1, with the Competition Commission of India following on September 30 and the Competition Commission of Pakistan on October 6.
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