Singapore-listed Wilmar is shaping up to become the Asian version of agribusiness giant Cargill, with an expanding network of farms, food processors and shipping companies.

And it’s showing its muscle where it matters most — in China.

Wilmar’s integrated China operations account for 44.7 per cent of its US$10.3 billion (RM32.79 billion) assets, allowing it to weather recent volatile food prices and now a likely yuan policy change.

The company had the most to gain when Beijing in April slapped import curbs on Argentine soyoil — a commodity that competes with Wilmar’s domestically crushed oilseeds in China and imported palm oil.

This resilience has spurred investors to clamour for Wilmar to revisit a shelved IPO for its China business, possibly this year, four years after the powerful Kuok family merged Wilmar and Malaysia-based Kuok Group to create the US$32 billion firm.

“I believe they will revisit the IPO. It’s anybody’s guess when it happens, but Wilmar has rightly tapped into the fact that agriculture is super-hot in China,” said Michael Greenall, an analyst with BNP Paribas.

“With the super-charged growth in China’s economy, higher incomes and rural-to-urban migration contributing to stronger demand in all the sectors it’s invested in, Wilmar will act.”

Wilmar’s proposed China listing would have raised as much as US$3.5 billion on the Hong Kong stock exchange, at the lower end of the range of China-based food companies.THE END

Source: The Malaysian Insider