US agribusiness group Archer Daniels Midland Co said Wednesday it and Singapore's Wilmar International have forged a strategic partnership in global fertilizer and ocean freight businesses, and tropical oils refining in Europe.
Under a memorandum of understanding, the pair agreed to collaborate on fertilizer purchasing and distribution, ADM said, adding they also team up to improve the utilization and management of their shipping fleets, with each one contributing two ships to the initiative.
They further agreed to work together to optimize capacity utilization in tropical oil refining in Europe, ADM said in a statement.
Patricia Woertz, ADM chairman and CEO, said the group considers Wilmar as a "key partner, especially in our strategy to serve growing Asian demand for agricultural products."
ADM owns 16% of Wilmar, one of the major agribusiness companies in Asia.
ADM and Wilmar's collaboration started in mid-1990s, when they jointly built a network of soybean processing operations in China.
