Agrium Inc, North America’s largest retail seller of products for crop farming, could benefit if some of the biggest makers of seed and agricultural chemicals merge, Chief Executive Chuck Magro said on Wednesday.
Responding to a question during a company investor day in Toronto about how possible tie-ups of ChemChina and Syngenta AG or Bayer AG and Monsanto Co could affect Agrium, Magro said assets could become available if the companies need to raise capital or satisfy anti-trust concerns.
“We’re watching the situation carefully,” he said. “From a consolidation perspective, this is healthy and normal, as part of the industry … There could be some very good opportunities.”
The company would be interested in proprietary seed or chemicals that fit its portfolio, Magro said. Many of the big producers are already suppliers of Agrium’s farm retail stores.
Bayer made an unsolicited $62 billion offer for Monsanto in May, aiming to create the world’s biggest agricultural supplier. Monsanto turned it down but said it was open to further talks.
Shareholders in Swiss pesticides maker Syngenta have a deadline of July 18 to accept a $43 billion takeover bid from state-owned ChemChina.
Agrium is also looking for acquisitions of more retail stores and plans to claim a quarter of the U.S. market over time, up from its current leading share of 17 percent.
Agrium intends to build 10 to 30 stores in the region by 2020, Magro said.
By Rod Nickel
Source: Reuters
The US State of New York is introducing two new bills to combat over-packaging, poor recycling rates and litter issues, including an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program requiring companies such as McDonald’s and Amazon to pay for the cost of packaging disposal and recycling.
The new organization’s mission is to redesign the critical steps of the plastics sorting and recycling system for post-consumer lightweight packaging (LWP) to speed up circularity, born from a need to meet the rising market demand for high-quality recyclates for use in high-end plastic applications.
Starbucks and Hubbub have launched a £1 million (US$1.22 million) “Bring It Back Fund” to increase the uptake of reusable packaging in the F&B industry. The funding will go toward innovative ideas that make it easier for customers to use alternatives to single-use packaging by supporting pilot projects that help shift consumption habits.
