COFCO sows seeds of further overseas growth

Food processing giant speeding up plans to satisfy domestic demand

China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp, or COFCO, plans to accelerate its expansion program abroad to meet growing demand at home.

Ning Gaoning, chairman of the State-owned food processing giant, said the company is looking to expand its network of investments in the "world's major production areas" for agricultural goods, namely South and North America , Australia and Russia.

"We plan to net the best agricultural goods worldwide to guarantee domestic market supply," said Ning on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

He said the company - which last year claimed it had around $10 billion available to fund overseas merger s and acquisition s in the next four years - will be looking particularly at grain supply opportunities in Brazil and Argentine, wine -related investments in Chile and the United States, and wheat, corn and rapeseed supplies in Canada, Russia and Australia.

COFCO is already one of the sector's most active overseas investors.

One of its highest-profile moves came in July last year, when it increased its share holding in the Australian sugar producer Tully Sugar from 61.25 percent to 99 percent, in an investment worth 938 million yuan ($148 million).

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