COMMODITIES AFRICA (PTY) LTD
Commodity in Sandton

We are a leading merchant and processor of agricultural goods, operating a significant network of assets around the world. We help people around the world meet their everyday needs for nourishment: getting the right product to the right location, at the right time. In Argentina our Cotton Platform has developed a program to awaken environmental awareness in the community. His entrepreneurial spirit remains a source of inspiration for the company to this day. There, Léopold makes his first sale of grain, and establishes his business. Léopold welcomes his sons, Charles and Louis, into the company, introducing them to the business early on. The second generation of the business, with Charles and Louis at the helm, expands our activities further afield, to the Americas, and beyond. The company enters Canada, and begins buying and exporting grains and oilseeds across the world. Exports of these two commodities contribute immensely to the local economy, in a country where one in three people are living on farms. At the same time, after four decades of activity in Brazil, we establish a presence in 1942 with the acquisition of Comércio e Indústrias Brasileiras Coinbra SA, trading sugar, citrus products, oilseeds and coffee. Building on Léopold’s legacy, the Group seizes opportunities to diversify the business, guided by a new generation of Louis-Dreyfus leaders. From the 1970s to the 1990s, we extend our direct involvement in agricultural activities, incorporating cotton, sugar, citrus, and coffee into the business. We also expand our origination and marketing activities, adding citrus and oilseeds processing to our growing value chain. The General Lagos soybean crushing plant and port facilities open in Argentina. From 1998 and throughout the first decade of the new century, we enhance our presence in Canada where we build a network of 10 grain elevators. We also expand our presence in several locations in Brazil. Building on the growth and success achieved under Gérard, Léopold’s great-grandson, Robert Louis-Dreyfus begins to write a new page in the company’s history. He consolidates the company structure and creates Louis Dreyfus Commodities (LDC). With our eyes on the future, we make major investments to improve logistic bottlenecks and make strategic acquisitions to develop our value chain and business lines. Having established a strong presence in the world market, LDC acquires two new companies: Ecoval Dairy Trade, a leading international dairy trading house, and the US-listed Imperial Sugar Company. The company begins forging a new way forward with renewed focus on sustainability and building strong relationships based on trust, inspired by our past as we march towards the future. In line with our strategic growth plans, the company ventures on, consolidating the relationship with our customers and suppliers. To mark this new chapter in our history, the Group is renamed Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC). We enter a joint-venture with Australian dairy company The Midfield group to build and operate a dairy processing plant in Penola.