Markets

Our Home From the Very Beginning

The European Union continues to be the largest import region for agricultural products in the world. Furthermore, the EU is the leading exporter of processed agricultural products. With an economic area in excess of 450 million consumers, the EU-27 also represents the world′s largest internal market . Traditionally, our strengths lie in importing feedstuffs into the EU and exporting grain from the EU. As a result of the expansion of the community by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, we have intensified our efforts in the domestic market of the EU. Our branches in Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria provide us with access to the existing export surpluses. This allows us to offer our partners in the EU an even wider range of goods. More than ever, this makes us the ideal partner of the processing industry in the EU. In the meantime, we have also become one of the most important suppliers of raw materials to the producers of renewable energies. Today, the manufacturers of biodiesel and bioethanol are numbered among our business partners just like the electric power companies which utilize biomass, such as wood pellets, to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide. We used the expansion of the EU to directly enter the origination of grain and oilseeds in Romania and Bulgaria. Approximately 65,000 tons of silo and storage capacity are available to us in Romania. In Poland we invested heavily in one of the most important export silos in Szczecin with a capacity of 55,000 tons.

Europe is Growing - And So Are We

The political and economic ties in Europe have become closer. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been integrated in the world trading system in the meantime and are becoming increasingly significant for international agicultural trade. We adapted to this development early on and founded own branches in Moscow and Kiev. Today, our Russian office is located in Rostov-on-Don in the middle of one of the main growing regions for grain and oilseeds. From here we are increasing our involvement in exporting primarily wheat and sunflower seeds. We are one of the leading trading companies for agricultural products in the Ukraine. The key to this success was our early decision to directly enter the originating of agricultural products and organize the entire logistics chain ourselves from the domestic farms to the Black Sea export ports. With this in mind, we invested substantially in silo and storage capacities and elevators in the last few years. Now we own the largest export silo in the port of Odessa with a storage capacity of close to 170,000 tons. Furthermore, we acquired inland silos in the most important producing regions providing us with a storage capacity totaling close to half a million tons. As the result of these investments, we have contributed towards the integration of the Ukrainian economy and the agricultural sector in the world economy in particular.

The Market From Which the World Buys

On the international grain, oilseeds, and feedstuff markets, North America continues to play a dominant role despite the strong competition from South America as well as from the Ukraine and Russia. Canada usually exports around 60 percent of its annual wheat crop and more than half of its rapeseed crop (canola), with the U.S. exporting more than half of its wheat crop. For many decades, the U.S. has been the world′s leading corn exporting country: two thirds of the corn traded on the world market come from the U.S. Soybeans from the U.S. also account for a share of roughly 40 percent of the world trading volume, making the country one of the leading export nations. Our strong presence in the North American market emphasizes this outstanding significance - with bases in Minneapolis, Tampa, and Winnipeg. Close collaboration with ADM ensures direct access to the supply markets. Rapid information about market activities enable us to recognize trends early on. The construction of an elevator specifically designed to load citrus pellets in Tampa, Florida along the western edge of one of the largest citrus production areas of the world improved our efficiency.

Of Increasing Importance for World Agricultural Markets

The production of agricultural commodities continues to increase not only in Argentina and Brazil, but in Paraguay, Bolivia, and Uruguay as well. The farmers on this subcontinent are responding directly to the signals coming from the markets. We had already opened our own offices in Buenos Aires and São Paulo in the 1970s. We added branches in Montevideo in Uruguay and Rosario in Argentina later on. Then as now, their task is to purchase grain, oilseeds, vegetable oils, and feedstuffs on behalf of the head office in Hamburg. Since the establishment of the MERCOSUR free trade agreement in 1996, trade within South America has gained increasing significance. This induced us to transform our office in Buenos Aires to a regional head office for this domestic market. In order to offer the best possible service to our customers in South America and in the world, we substantially invested in silo and elevator facilities in Argentina. Our facilities in Bahía Blanca, San Martín, and Arroyo together have a grain and oilseed storage capacity of close to half a million tons and 20,000 tons for vegetable oil. To guarantee continuous access to the agricultural commodities produced by the Argentinean farmers, we have begun contracting directly with them to plant malting barley. We will intensify our efforts in this direction and add other products - corresponding to your wishes and quality requirements.

Growth In All Areas

The countries of North Africa and of the Middle East belong to the largest import regions for grain, oilseeds, and vegetable oils. And, they are still gaining in importance, in particular because of the rapidly growing population and rising incomes. Since the climatic conditions limit the growth of their own agricultural production, imports will have to increase continuously. The countries of this region already have an import share today of one fifth of the international trade with wheat, and 15% for corn. Roughly 40% of world barley trade is destined for Saudi Arabia, which imports 6 to 7 million tons annually. Toepfer International adapted to the opportunities and demands of this region early on and established close relationships to all important buyers. We have a substantial share of the supply of wheat, corn, barley, and vegetable oils. We are also buying fertilizers to a greater extent in this region. The North African countries are served directly by our head office in Hamburg, our branch in Cairo, and our office in Paris. Our branch in Athens (Greece) is responsible for the Middle East.
 

Number One in Demand for Agricultural Products

More than 60% of the world′s population lives in Asia. The mentality of the people is as different as the trading activities of the countries. We have been represented in Asia since the middle of the 1960s. At the end of the 1980s, we significantly strengthened our presence on the Asian continent. In light of the rapid population growth and steady increase of buying power, we also have been involved in the regional Asian business since 1989. The Regional Head Office in Singapore is the head office for our activities in these dynamic markets. Singapore coordinates all the activities of our Asian branches, concludes contracts, and takes care of freight chartering. Just like all the other offices, Singapore is also the purchasing and sales agency for the head office in Hamburg. We dealt with the constantly growing market of the People′s Republic of China by opening our own offices in Peking, Shanghai, and Dalian. We work together with the port in Nantong. In the meantime, we also entered the regional trading business in China. We have also invested in several oil mills. In the meantime, China has become the world market leader in the soybean trade. We hold a significant share of this market.  

Direct Connection To Growing Asian Markets

Australia is among the five largest countries in the world who export agricultural products. For many years this country has been a familiar field. Through our branch in Adelaide we have been involved in the export of wheat, feed barley, malting barley, peas, and rapeseed for years. The sustained liberalization of the Australian agricultural markets have provided us with new business opportunities in the Australian domestic market as well as in the export business. We have responded to this development and founded a Joint Venture with ELDERS Ltd. by the name of "Elders Toepfer Grain." Elders is one of the largest originators of grain and oilseeds in Australia, enabling us to better meet the growing demand in the future, above all in the Asian area. At the same time, Australian imports of feedstuffs in particular are expected to increase. We are prepared.