Agribusiness Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Company has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire complete ownership of North Star Shipping and Minmetal, which includes export facilities at the Romanian Port of Constanta on the Black Sea.
North Star and Minmetal operate grain elevators and bulk commodity storage and warehousing, as well as port services, stevedoring operations and a shipping agency at the mouth of the Danube River. ADM was previously a partner in both North Star and Minmetal.
The assets to be included as part of the acquisition includes ten vessel berths, including seven deep sea berths; port terminals, with annual throughput capacity of up to six million metric tons; and two floating cranes for direct barge-oceangoing vessel transfer.
Joe Taets, President of ADM Europe Middle East and Africa, said: “This acquisition helps us to meet our goal of strategic expansion though diversification and expansion of our trade and origination territory. We’ve talked about the potential to double the volume of our grain business.
“Here, we’re taking a great step in that direction with this strategic expansion of our European network. By becoming full owners of these facilities on the Black Sea, we’re building on the investments we have made in our Danube River network since 2011, which enhances our origination, logistics and export capabilities in Eastern Europe, and allows us to reach more customers around the globe.”
ADM, through its minority stake in North Star and through Minmetal—a separate 50-50 joint venture owned by ADM and North Star—previously owned approximately 45% of the Constanta assets.
The Port of Constanta sits on the Black Sea at the mouth of the Danube River. The Danube River outlet into the Black Sea makes the Port of Constanta the primary extry and exit point for bulk commodities being traded into and out of Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary.
