Demetra-Holding begins trading raw sugar, expands product range
MOSCOW. Nov 28 (Interfax) - Demetra-Holding, which consolidates assets in export logistics and grain trading, is expanding its product range.
"Alongside our traditional crops such as wheat, barley, and corn, we have begun gaining experience in trading other products. For example, this season we started trading raw sugar: 81,500 tonnes of raw beet sugar were purchased and shipped for export to Uzbekistan," holding CEO Alexei Gribanov said in an interview with Interfax.
Commenting on recent reports about the purchase of a batch of sunflower, Gribanov said, "Farmers need to sell their harvest, as they say, through one window, so this season we decided to meet this demand and also purchased sunflower."
"We are diversifying our supplies not only of grain but also of processed products, helping our agricultural producers," Gribanov said. "Farmers are in a difficult position due to the cost of money, and we are trying to find points of cooperation, including advance payments for the harvest even with the current key interest rate."
The majority of grain exported by the holding's partners is purchased under fixed-price contracts, he said. "We also practice concluding seasonal contracts with farmers to purchase the harvest at a floating price. Such contracts already account for about 25% in the current agricultural season. We also purchase grain through public market instruments," Gribanov said.
The grain purchased by the holding was supplied to more than 40 countries last season.
Regarding the new agricultural season, which began on July 1, 2024, 4.4 million tonnes of grain were handled at the terminals within the holding's perimeter (100% of the Novorossiysk Grain Terminal and 50% of the Taman Grain Terminal Complex) from July to October, he said. Shipments from its own elevators amounted to around 410,000 tonnes. Railways transported 4.8 million tonnes of agricultural cargo, of which 3.7 million tonnes were sent to export terminals.
Demetra-Holding is the largest vertically integrated infrastructure holding in Russia, combining assets in the fields of export logistics and grain trading. The company is developing its own network of elevators, owns deep-water sea grain terminals and a logistics infrastructure. The holding participates in the ownership of the largest Russian grain terminals: the Novorossiysk grain terminal (100%), Novorossiysk Grain Plant (NKHP (35.36%), and the Taman Grain Terminal (50%).
Demetra owns 50% minus-1 share in JSC OZK (United Grain Company), 100% of railway operators Rusagrotrans, LP Trans, Freight Company and TransLes, as well as over 75% of Smartseeds, the leading digital platform for grain transportation in Russia. The company owns 100% of the shares of grain trader Demetra Trading, as well as the Ipatovsky Bakery Plant, and the Oktyabrsky, Chernyshkovsky and Dimitrovgrad elevators.
