By Souhail Karam Monday, 12 April 2010
FARM INVESTMENTS: Saudi based Agroinvest has said that it is close to obtaining approval from the regulator to raise $533m for foreign and local farm investments. (Getty Images)
Saudi based agricultural investment firm Agroinvest is close to obtaining approval from the regulator to raise about $533 million for foreign and local farm investments, its chairman said. Agroinvest, or the International Agriculture and Food Investment Co, is the biggest of many private firms involved in foreign farm investment that were set up in the kingdom since import reliant Gulf Arab countries started buying or leasing land in developing nations to ensure food supplies.
But farmland acquisitions by foreign investors have sparked some opposition in developing nations and the United Nations last year voiced concern that farmers' rights in developing nations could be compromised.
Usamah al Kurdi, who chairs Agroinvest's founding committee, said his firm would not want to tarnish Saudi Arabia's image by buying farmlands abroad.
In a telephone interview with Reuters, he said: "Everybody is getting philosophical about this issue, but Agroinvest is not a real estate firm. We are in agriculture and we want to do this with firms and farmers unions in these countries."
He added: "The ideal scenario for Agroinvest, Kurdi said, would be to "forge partnerships with local firms or farmers unions who have a project ready. If leasing the land is an option, then we will do it with our partners."
Seeking approval from the Capital Market Authority (CMA) for the private placement "was not a legal requirement," he said.
Kurdi said: "We have taken the initiative to seek the CMA's approval to show how serious we are."
He added: "We hope to raise about $533.3 million from private and institutional investors to add to the capital raised by the founders."
He declined to say how much capital had so far been raised from Agroinvest's founders. Kurdi said in April that 25 percent of the capital will come from founding shareholders and the remainder from institutional investors and a public offering.
Several Saudi firms have already started farm investments in countries stretching from Indonesia to Ethiopia after a sharp rise in global food prices in 2008 and after authorities prioritised safeguarding water over self sufficiency in some crops such as wheat.
In addition to investments abroad that would include rice, grains, oilseeds and soybeans, Agroinvest plans to invest in grain silos and in funds with exposure to farm investments.
Kurdi declined to go into detail and said only that several propositions were being examined for investments in Australia, Romania, Senegal, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.
He said: "Foreign investments will take 60 percent of our total investments and 40 percent will be invested locally."
Kurdi added: "We plan investment in logistics through funds and Djibouti is being considered as a potential location."
The company will start announcing its foreign investments after it obtains regulatory approvals to start operations "within eight to 10 weeks," he added.
Agroinvest's most advanced plans are in Saudi Arabia where it plans to invest in shrimp farms, poultry and greenhouses, he said. (Reuters)
NEWS - Commodites, Agriculture, Green Investment - NEWS
11/24/2010
CalPERS invests $500 million in new environmentally-conscious strategy
November 22nd, 2010
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the United States, recently put $500 million into a strategy that invests in environmentally-focused global public companies. The new internally-managed strategy will be modeled after HSBC’s Global Climate Change Benchmark Index (HSBC CCI). According to CalPERS, “companies must derive a material portion of their revenues from low-carbon energy production,” including alternative energies, water conservation and control, energy efficiency, and carbon trading, in order to be included in the portfolio.
“Until now, we’ve invested in external managers whose funds screen out the worst offending public companies,” commented CalPERS Board President Rob Feckner. “But this more robust, quantitative strategy will allow us on a large scale to support and become more directly involved in positive change by top performers that have improved share value and also done good for the environment.”
So although CalPERS has focused on restricting its investments in companies with negative environmental impacts in the past, their new environmental investment strategy takes a different approach. “Research shows that a positive inclusionary methodology for investing in common stock companies is more successful than a negative exclusionary approach that uses subjective rather than quantitative selection criteria,” stated George Diehr, Chair of the CalPERS Investment Committee.
CalPERS manages the retirement benefits for over 1.6 million California public employees and their families. The pension fund oversees $219 billion in assets under management.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the United States, recently put $500 million into a strategy that invests in environmentally-focused global public companies. The new internally-managed strategy will be modeled after HSBC’s Global Climate Change Benchmark Index (HSBC CCI). According to CalPERS, “companies must derive a material portion of their revenues from low-carbon energy production,” including alternative energies, water conservation and control, energy efficiency, and carbon trading, in order to be included in the portfolio.
“Until now, we’ve invested in external managers whose funds screen out the worst offending public companies,” commented CalPERS Board President Rob Feckner. “But this more robust, quantitative strategy will allow us on a large scale to support and become more directly involved in positive change by top performers that have improved share value and also done good for the environment.”
So although CalPERS has focused on restricting its investments in companies with negative environmental impacts in the past, their new environmental investment strategy takes a different approach. “Research shows that a positive inclusionary methodology for investing in common stock companies is more successful than a negative exclusionary approach that uses subjective rather than quantitative selection criteria,” stated George Diehr, Chair of the CalPERS Investment Committee.
CalPERS manages the retirement benefits for over 1.6 million California public employees and their families. The pension fund oversees $219 billion in assets under management.
UAE, Saudi eye more farmland leasing overseas
Foreign land acquisitions have provoked opposition from farmers in developing nations
By Reuters Tuesday, 23 November 2010 11:24 PM
FOOD PRICES: Gulf states suffered when international food prices spiked to record levels in 2008, forcing up their import bills (Getty Images)
The UAE and Saudi Arabia will continue to invest in acquiring farmland abroad as part of their strategy to secure food supplies, officials from the two Gulf states said on Tuesday.
Gulf states suffered when international food prices spiked to record levels in 2008, forcing up their import bills. They have since sought to lease and buy farmland in developing nations to improve security of food supplies.
"In Saudi we have given a priority to water security and therefore are phasing out the production of water-intensive crops and as part our security strategy we are encouraging the private sector to invest in agriculture abroad," Fahad Balghunaim, the kingdom's agriculture minister, told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event in Abu Dhabi.
He added: "We don't have one place or region we are targeting for these land leases, I can promise you that we will be everywhere in the world
By Reuters Tuesday, 23 November 2010 11:24 PM
FOOD PRICES: Gulf states suffered when international food prices spiked to record levels in 2008, forcing up their import bills (Getty Images)
The UAE and Saudi Arabia will continue to invest in acquiring farmland abroad as part of their strategy to secure food supplies, officials from the two Gulf states said on Tuesday.
Gulf states suffered when international food prices spiked to record levels in 2008, forcing up their import bills. They have since sought to lease and buy farmland in developing nations to improve security of food supplies.
"In Saudi we have given a priority to water security and therefore are phasing out the production of water-intensive crops and as part our security strategy we are encouraging the private sector to invest in agriculture abroad," Fahad Balghunaim, the kingdom's agriculture minister, told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event in Abu Dhabi.
He added: "We don't have one place or region we are targeting for these land leases, I can promise you that we will be everywhere in the world
11/21/2010
L’équation de la sécurité alimentaire
Pierre-Alexandre Sallier
L’équilibre agricole mondial en onze chiffres
■ Dans dix ans, les besoins alimentaires annuels supplémentaires de la Chine équivaudront à ceux affichés par l’Europe des 27.
■ Les importations chinoises de soja représentent 60% de la demande mondiale.
■ Si les rendements restent les mêmes, 10 millions d’hectares supplémentaires – trois fois la Suisse – devront être plantés dans le monde pour ne pas puiser dans les stocks de grains.
■ Les biocarburants brûlent 30% de l’huile de colza, 15% de celle de soja et 15% du maïs.
■ L’alimentation du bétail et les besoins «industriels» (biocarburants) dévorent 35% des céréales et 60% des oléagineux.
■ L’impact des changements de régime alimentaire sur la demande d’huiles végétales est aussi important que celui de l’accroissement de la population.
■ Les besoins en grains sont passés de 155 à 250 kg par habitant depuis 1964, les biocarburants leur faisant toucher de nouveaux sommets cette année.
■ Depuis 1964, les surfaces cultivées par habitant ont fondu, passant de 1500 à 900 m2. La hausse des rendements de 1,40 à 3 tonnes par hectare (céréales et oléagineux) a cependant permis aux récoltes d’augmenter de 210 à 280 kg par être humain.
■ 70% des champs de soja, 25% de ceux de maïs et 20% du colza sont plantés en OGM.
■ Les exportations américaines représentent 44% du commerce mondial du blé, du maïs et des oléagineux, une importance similaire à celle observée en 1966.
■ Les exportations russes de blé sont passées cette année de 18 millions à moins de 4 millions de tonnes.
L’équilibre agricole mondial en onze chiffres
■ Dans dix ans, les besoins alimentaires annuels supplémentaires de la Chine équivaudront à ceux affichés par l’Europe des 27.
■ Les importations chinoises de soja représentent 60% de la demande mondiale.
■ Si les rendements restent les mêmes, 10 millions d’hectares supplémentaires – trois fois la Suisse – devront être plantés dans le monde pour ne pas puiser dans les stocks de grains.
■ Les biocarburants brûlent 30% de l’huile de colza, 15% de celle de soja et 15% du maïs.
■ L’alimentation du bétail et les besoins «industriels» (biocarburants) dévorent 35% des céréales et 60% des oléagineux.
■ L’impact des changements de régime alimentaire sur la demande d’huiles végétales est aussi important que celui de l’accroissement de la population.
■ Les besoins en grains sont passés de 155 à 250 kg par habitant depuis 1964, les biocarburants leur faisant toucher de nouveaux sommets cette année.
■ Depuis 1964, les surfaces cultivées par habitant ont fondu, passant de 1500 à 900 m2. La hausse des rendements de 1,40 à 3 tonnes par hectare (céréales et oléagineux) a cependant permis aux récoltes d’augmenter de 210 à 280 kg par être humain.
■ 70% des champs de soja, 25% de ceux de maïs et 20% du colza sont plantés en OGM.
■ Les exportations américaines représentent 44% du commerce mondial du blé, du maïs et des oléagineux, une importance similaire à celle observée en 1966.
■ Les exportations russes de blé sont passées cette année de 18 millions à moins de 4 millions de tonnes.
11/18/2010
Ex-RBS Sempra heads to launch physical commodity fund
5:28pm EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The former heads of RBS Sempra Commodities will launch a physical energy and metals trading fund backed by Stone Point Capital early next year, the CEO of Stone Point told Reuters on Thursday.
David Messer and Frank Gallipoli, who started the Sempra Commodities trading unit that later established a joint venture with RBS (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), will launch the fund in the first quarter of 2011 in Stamford, Connecticut.
The move is the latest evidence of private equity funds stepping in to finance proprietary trading as banks face tougher restrictions on trading for their own book.
Charles Davis, CEO of the $10 billion private equity fund, said the commodities trading fund would be seeded with "hundreds of millions of dollars" and would focus initially on energy and metals trading.
Jason Schenker, president and CEO of Prestige Economics in Austin Texas, said the move showed private equity firms are looking to diversify their investments following two years of relatively lackluster returns.
"If you invest in good people and good trading strategies you can make a lot of money trading commodities. There's still a lot of interest in this space," Schenker said.
"It has been a difficult two years for private equity firms and they're increasingly looking to invest directly into hedge funds and commodity traders to help generate better returns."
Messer and Gallipoli will be joined at the fund by former RBS-Sempra chief operating officer (COO) Rob Feilbogen, Davis said.
All three parted from RBS Sempra last spring. Sparkspread.com, which initially reported the story, said the three would be part funding the new venture.
Davis at Stone Point said the fund would trade physical oil, gas, power and base metals, adding the firm may trade other commodities depending on the eventual make-up of the team they are putting together.
David Messer was not immediately available for comment.
PRIVATE EQUITY
Banks have been changing their trading businesses to comply with the Volcker rule, part of a broader financial reform law that limits the extent to which banks can bet with their own capital.
The change in strategy has seen many physical commodity traders leave banks to join traditional energy and metal trading houses or set up their own funds.
In September, a senior Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) commodity executive and a team of traders left the bank to set up a hedge fund backed by the private-equity Blackstone Group.
RBS established the joint venture with Sempra Commodities in 2008 but was forced to slim down to appease European Union antitrust concerns just over one year later after it received billions of dollars in state aid during the financial crisis.
Most of the joint venture was sold to JPMorgan (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) this year for around $1.8 billion. The exception was the retail commodity marketing operations that were sold to Noble Group Ltd (NOBG.SI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in September for $317 million.
JPMorgan cut up to 50 people from its enlarged commodities trading business in July following the takeover.
The head of RBS Sempra's proprietary metals trading business left the firm with his team in September.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The former heads of RBS Sempra Commodities will launch a physical energy and metals trading fund backed by Stone Point Capital early next year, the CEO of Stone Point told Reuters on Thursday.
David Messer and Frank Gallipoli, who started the Sempra Commodities trading unit that later established a joint venture with RBS (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), will launch the fund in the first quarter of 2011 in Stamford, Connecticut.
The move is the latest evidence of private equity funds stepping in to finance proprietary trading as banks face tougher restrictions on trading for their own book.
Charles Davis, CEO of the $10 billion private equity fund, said the commodities trading fund would be seeded with "hundreds of millions of dollars" and would focus initially on energy and metals trading.
Jason Schenker, president and CEO of Prestige Economics in Austin Texas, said the move showed private equity firms are looking to diversify their investments following two years of relatively lackluster returns.
"If you invest in good people and good trading strategies you can make a lot of money trading commodities. There's still a lot of interest in this space," Schenker said.
"It has been a difficult two years for private equity firms and they're increasingly looking to invest directly into hedge funds and commodity traders to help generate better returns."
Messer and Gallipoli will be joined at the fund by former RBS-Sempra chief operating officer (COO) Rob Feilbogen, Davis said.
All three parted from RBS Sempra last spring. Sparkspread.com, which initially reported the story, said the three would be part funding the new venture.
Davis at Stone Point said the fund would trade physical oil, gas, power and base metals, adding the firm may trade other commodities depending on the eventual make-up of the team they are putting together.
David Messer was not immediately available for comment.
PRIVATE EQUITY
Banks have been changing their trading businesses to comply with the Volcker rule, part of a broader financial reform law that limits the extent to which banks can bet with their own capital.
The change in strategy has seen many physical commodity traders leave banks to join traditional energy and metal trading houses or set up their own funds.
In September, a senior Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) commodity executive and a team of traders left the bank to set up a hedge fund backed by the private-equity Blackstone Group.
RBS established the joint venture with Sempra Commodities in 2008 but was forced to slim down to appease European Union antitrust concerns just over one year later after it received billions of dollars in state aid during the financial crisis.
Most of the joint venture was sold to JPMorgan (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) this year for around $1.8 billion. The exception was the retail commodity marketing operations that were sold to Noble Group Ltd (NOBG.SI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in September for $317 million.
JPMorgan cut up to 50 people from its enlarged commodities trading business in July following the takeover.
The head of RBS Sempra's proprietary metals trading business left the firm with his team in September.
11/17/2010
Olam invests US$1.5b in Gabon
Channel News Asia | 15 November 2010
Olam's CEO Sunny Verghese says his company uses political risk assurance, such as that provided by the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guranatee Agency (MIGA), for its projects in Africa.
By Travis Teo
SINGAPORE: Commodities company Olam recently announced plans to invest US$1.5 billion in the African country of Gabon.
And it said at full production, its new fertiliser plant and palm oil unit will generate a combined revenue of US$675 million annually.
This means that by 2015, one-fifth of Olam’s revenue will come from Africa, up from the current 14 to 15 per cent.
Olam is betting on Africa to double its net profit margin to 5.2 per cent in five years and analysts have said that it is an achievable target.
Demand for agricultural commodities has outstripped supply for the last 9 out of 10 years and agri-commodities companies are increasingly turning to unexplored regions like Africa for their resource needs.
But Africa is still a risky bet.
“How we manage the political and sovereign risk is to take a risk insurance cover, a political risk insurance cover call PRI, in the London Lloyd’s Market. And in addition to that for specific projects, we try to secure MIGA guarantees, the multi lateral investment guarantee agency, MIGA, which is a world bank body for project risk insurance, and by diversifying…we are able to mitigate and manage these risks,” said Sunny Verghese, Group Managing Director and CEO of Olam.
Large tracts of land and cheap manpower in the second-fastest-growing continent in the world make Africa an attractive investment for commodities companies that are increasingly seeking to attain scale.
Analysts added that the recent merger talks between Olam and Louis Dreyfus, which dominates rice imports by Africa, can potentially give the combined entities the advantage of pricing power.
James Koh, an Analyst with Kim Eng, feels that there will be a long term increase in prices of commodities.
“The long term supply demand trends points to a long term increase in prices, but I don’t think that its necessary means that every commodity related company will benefit from this boom. For one thing, I think you need to be well capitalised, you need to be a substantial player, we are already seeing a wave of consolidation in this sector. I think with the recession you are finding that people are preferring to deal with the bigger players like Olam, like Noble, because there’s less counter party risk.”
It also helps to have on-the-ground experience of doing business in Africa. And in that regard, analysts said, Olam, which started exporting cashews out of Nigeria in 1989, has a huge advantage.
Overall analysts have a positive view of commodities companies like Olam and Nobel.
“This is one sector where we see that we can still achieve growth, especially now that the risk of a double dip recession is subsiding. These are well capitalised players where they have the financial muscles to do M&A deal, identify good investment and take advantage of the low interest rate environment. That will help generate value for shareholders,” said Mr Koh.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Olam's CEO Sunny Verghese says his company uses political risk assurance, such as that provided by the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guranatee Agency (MIGA), for its projects in Africa.
By Travis Teo
SINGAPORE: Commodities company Olam recently announced plans to invest US$1.5 billion in the African country of Gabon.
And it said at full production, its new fertiliser plant and palm oil unit will generate a combined revenue of US$675 million annually.
This means that by 2015, one-fifth of Olam’s revenue will come from Africa, up from the current 14 to 15 per cent.
Olam is betting on Africa to double its net profit margin to 5.2 per cent in five years and analysts have said that it is an achievable target.
Demand for agricultural commodities has outstripped supply for the last 9 out of 10 years and agri-commodities companies are increasingly turning to unexplored regions like Africa for their resource needs.
But Africa is still a risky bet.
“How we manage the political and sovereign risk is to take a risk insurance cover, a political risk insurance cover call PRI, in the London Lloyd’s Market. And in addition to that for specific projects, we try to secure MIGA guarantees, the multi lateral investment guarantee agency, MIGA, which is a world bank body for project risk insurance, and by diversifying…we are able to mitigate and manage these risks,” said Sunny Verghese, Group Managing Director and CEO of Olam.
Large tracts of land and cheap manpower in the second-fastest-growing continent in the world make Africa an attractive investment for commodities companies that are increasingly seeking to attain scale.
Analysts added that the recent merger talks between Olam and Louis Dreyfus, which dominates rice imports by Africa, can potentially give the combined entities the advantage of pricing power.
James Koh, an Analyst with Kim Eng, feels that there will be a long term increase in prices of commodities.
“The long term supply demand trends points to a long term increase in prices, but I don’t think that its necessary means that every commodity related company will benefit from this boom. For one thing, I think you need to be well capitalised, you need to be a substantial player, we are already seeing a wave of consolidation in this sector. I think with the recession you are finding that people are preferring to deal with the bigger players like Olam, like Noble, because there’s less counter party risk.”
It also helps to have on-the-ground experience of doing business in Africa. And in that regard, analysts said, Olam, which started exporting cashews out of Nigeria in 1989, has a huge advantage.
Overall analysts have a positive view of commodities companies like Olam and Nobel.
“This is one sector where we see that we can still achieve growth, especially now that the risk of a double dip recession is subsiding. These are well capitalised players where they have the financial muscles to do M&A deal, identify good investment and take advantage of the low interest rate environment. That will help generate value for shareholders,” said Mr Koh.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abu Dhabi moves to secure food supply
Financial Times | 16 November 2010
Abu Dhabi has been working on a food security strategy and is building silos in Fujairah. "If you really want food security, either you buy a piece of farmland overseas or you build your own trading house," a London-based commodities banker told FT.
FT [1] via Zawya.com
By Javier Blas and Jack Farchy in London and Andrew England and Roula Khalaf in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is to make a bold foray into commodities with the establishment of a government-owned trading house aimed at securing food supplies for the import-dependent nation and capturing profit margins in metals and agriculture trading.
People familiar with the plans say the company, which is called Abu Dhabi Sources or ADS, is likely to be started with a capital base of several hundred millions of dollars.
ADS will be going up against well established trading houses, including Glencore, the world’s largest commodities trader, Minneapolis-based Cargill and Louis Dreyfus of France.
Bankers and traders in London and Geneva, Europe’s trading hubs, say headhunters have approached metals and agriculture traders in the past three months seeking senior staff to build up ADS. It is not clear if ADS will trade in oil.
Abu Dhabi, home of 95 per cent of the hydrocarbon reserves of the United Arab Emirates, has embarked on ambitious plans to transform itself into a global city, with infrastructure projects that could cost more than $300bn and require huge imports of raw materials.
Food security has risen to the top of the agenda in the Middle East and North Africa – the world’s biggest importer of cereals – following the food crisis of 2007-2008.
Policymakers are worried about surging prices, but more importantly about exporting countries’ trade restrictions – such as Russia’s halt on wheat shipments – which make importers vulnerable to an interruption in supplies.
Commodities prices have rocketed in the past six years on the back of strong demand from China and other emerging markets.
Copper prices hit record highs last week, becoming the first industrial commodity to break above levels set in 2008.
Abu Dhabi has been working on a food security strategy and is building silos in Fujairah, a smaller member of the UAE.
The move is designed to secure the flow of imports even in the event of a disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf’s key waterway, which could be affected by any military confrontation with Iran.
“If you really want food security, either you buy a piece of farmland overseas or you build your own trading house,” a London-based commodities banker said.
Abu Dhabi is not the first country to build a domestic trading house, although its plans appear more ambitious than other, more limited, state-owned trading enterprises, such as Badan Urusan Logistik, or Bulog, of Indonesia.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abu Dhabi has been working on a food security strategy and is building silos in Fujairah. "If you really want food security, either you buy a piece of farmland overseas or you build your own trading house," a London-based commodities banker told FT.
FT [1] via Zawya.com
By Javier Blas and Jack Farchy in London and Andrew England and Roula Khalaf in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is to make a bold foray into commodities with the establishment of a government-owned trading house aimed at securing food supplies for the import-dependent nation and capturing profit margins in metals and agriculture trading.
People familiar with the plans say the company, which is called Abu Dhabi Sources or ADS, is likely to be started with a capital base of several hundred millions of dollars.
ADS will be going up against well established trading houses, including Glencore, the world’s largest commodities trader, Minneapolis-based Cargill and Louis Dreyfus of France.
Bankers and traders in London and Geneva, Europe’s trading hubs, say headhunters have approached metals and agriculture traders in the past three months seeking senior staff to build up ADS. It is not clear if ADS will trade in oil.
Abu Dhabi, home of 95 per cent of the hydrocarbon reserves of the United Arab Emirates, has embarked on ambitious plans to transform itself into a global city, with infrastructure projects that could cost more than $300bn and require huge imports of raw materials.
Food security has risen to the top of the agenda in the Middle East and North Africa – the world’s biggest importer of cereals – following the food crisis of 2007-2008.
Policymakers are worried about surging prices, but more importantly about exporting countries’ trade restrictions – such as Russia’s halt on wheat shipments – which make importers vulnerable to an interruption in supplies.
Commodities prices have rocketed in the past six years on the back of strong demand from China and other emerging markets.
Copper prices hit record highs last week, becoming the first industrial commodity to break above levels set in 2008.
Abu Dhabi has been working on a food security strategy and is building silos in Fujairah, a smaller member of the UAE.
The move is designed to secure the flow of imports even in the event of a disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf’s key waterway, which could be affected by any military confrontation with Iran.
“If you really want food security, either you buy a piece of farmland overseas or you build your own trading house,” a London-based commodities banker said.
Abu Dhabi is not the first country to build a domestic trading house, although its plans appear more ambitious than other, more limited, state-owned trading enterprises, such as Badan Urusan Logistik, or Bulog, of Indonesia.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/12/2010
Gold, Agriculture Are `Safest Long Positions,' Deutsche Bank's Lewis Says
By Jae Hur and Ichiro Suzuki - Nov 11, 2010 Precious metals including gold and agricultural commodities may extend gains in the coming months as a declining dollar and tight supplies boost demand, according to Deutsche Bank AG.
A lot of agricultural commodities including corn, soybeans and wheat are “still cheap” even after recent rallies, Michael Lewis, global head of commodities research, said in an interview. The surge in gold, which touched a record this week, is not yet extreme, Lewis said yesterday in Tokyo.
Commodities have jumped this year on increased demand as the U.S. emerged from recession and China, the world’s largest metals user, led expansions in Asia. Copper, used in pipes and wires, reached an all-time high today. Grains and soybeans have rallied on higher demand, trade curbs and poor harvests.
“The safest long positions to have are in precious metals and agriculture,” Lewis said in the interview, referring to bets that prices will advance. For gold “the magnitude of this rally to us is not extreme,” Lewis said.
Immediate-delivery gold has gained 28 percent in 2010 and is set for a 10th annual gain as the dollar has dropped. The precious metal touched a record $1,424.60 an ounce on Nov. 9. Corn has gained 42 percent this year on speculation hot, dry weather in August hurt crops in the U.S., the world’s biggest exporter. Cotton reached a record $1.5195 a pound yesterday.
Gold Bulls
Lewis’s call for higher gold prices echoes forecasts from other investors and analysts including Jim Rogers, who has said it may jump to $2,000 an ounce over the long term. Myles Zyblock, chief institutional strategist at RBC Capital Markets, said last month gold may soar to $3,800 within three years as it follows the pattern of previous “investment manias.”
Gold would need to rise to more than $1,455 an ounce to surpass its all-time high in real terms as measured by producer prices, Lewis said, according to a copy of remarks to clients in Tokyo today. Adjusted for changes in consumer prices, the metal would need to advance to $1,880 an ounce to reach the level seen at the beginning of the 1980s, he wrote in the remarks.
“The gold price would need to hit $2,100 to represent the most powerful rally in percentage terms, and surpass the 1976- 1980 gold-price rally, when prices surged by just over 720 percent,” Lewis wrote in the speech.
Bond Buying
Gold has surged as the U.S. currency has dropped, investors have boosted holdings through exchange-traded products and central banks including India’s have added the metal to their reserves. The dollar has fallen as the Federal Reserve expanded a program to buy bonds to bolster growth in the largest economy.
The Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against six major counterparts including the euro and the yen, traded today at 77.625 compared with this year’s high of 88.708, which was set in June.
“We expect investors’ flows into gold exchange-traded funds will accelerate, as well as efforts by the Fed to devalue the dollar,” Lewis wrote in the speech to clients. Exchange traded funds, of ETFs, trade like stocks, enabling investors to buy precious metals and other products without taking delivery.
Central-bank gold holdings rose by about 500 metric tons last year and may rise again in 2010, the first time they have been net buyers since 1988, Lewis said in the speech. On current trends, central-bank buying in 2010 will surpass private-sector inflows into physically backed ETFs, Lewis said in the speech.
Central banks in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Mauritius have bought gold this year and in 2009 from the International Monetary Fund, which said last year it was putting 403.3 tons of bullion up for sale.
A lot of agricultural commodities including corn, soybeans and wheat are “still cheap” even after recent rallies, Michael Lewis, global head of commodities research, said in an interview. The surge in gold, which touched a record this week, is not yet extreme, Lewis said yesterday in Tokyo.
Commodities have jumped this year on increased demand as the U.S. emerged from recession and China, the world’s largest metals user, led expansions in Asia. Copper, used in pipes and wires, reached an all-time high today. Grains and soybeans have rallied on higher demand, trade curbs and poor harvests.
“The safest long positions to have are in precious metals and agriculture,” Lewis said in the interview, referring to bets that prices will advance. For gold “the magnitude of this rally to us is not extreme,” Lewis said.
Immediate-delivery gold has gained 28 percent in 2010 and is set for a 10th annual gain as the dollar has dropped. The precious metal touched a record $1,424.60 an ounce on Nov. 9. Corn has gained 42 percent this year on speculation hot, dry weather in August hurt crops in the U.S., the world’s biggest exporter. Cotton reached a record $1.5195 a pound yesterday.
Gold Bulls
Lewis’s call for higher gold prices echoes forecasts from other investors and analysts including Jim Rogers, who has said it may jump to $2,000 an ounce over the long term. Myles Zyblock, chief institutional strategist at RBC Capital Markets, said last month gold may soar to $3,800 within three years as it follows the pattern of previous “investment manias.”
Gold would need to rise to more than $1,455 an ounce to surpass its all-time high in real terms as measured by producer prices, Lewis said, according to a copy of remarks to clients in Tokyo today. Adjusted for changes in consumer prices, the metal would need to advance to $1,880 an ounce to reach the level seen at the beginning of the 1980s, he wrote in the remarks.
“The gold price would need to hit $2,100 to represent the most powerful rally in percentage terms, and surpass the 1976- 1980 gold-price rally, when prices surged by just over 720 percent,” Lewis wrote in the speech.
Bond Buying
Gold has surged as the U.S. currency has dropped, investors have boosted holdings through exchange-traded products and central banks including India’s have added the metal to their reserves. The dollar has fallen as the Federal Reserve expanded a program to buy bonds to bolster growth in the largest economy.
The Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against six major counterparts including the euro and the yen, traded today at 77.625 compared with this year’s high of 88.708, which was set in June.
“We expect investors’ flows into gold exchange-traded funds will accelerate, as well as efforts by the Fed to devalue the dollar,” Lewis wrote in the speech to clients. Exchange traded funds, of ETFs, trade like stocks, enabling investors to buy precious metals and other products without taking delivery.
Central-bank gold holdings rose by about 500 metric tons last year and may rise again in 2010, the first time they have been net buyers since 1988, Lewis said in the speech. On current trends, central-bank buying in 2010 will surpass private-sector inflows into physically backed ETFs, Lewis said in the speech.
Central banks in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Mauritius have bought gold this year and in 2009 from the International Monetary Fund, which said last year it was putting 403.3 tons of bullion up for sale.
11/11/2010
From corn to nuts, Optima plans listed farmland REIT
Reuters | 9 November 2010
Optima's Thomas Gimbel said they are exploring international agricultural investment opportunities, but currently are focusing on U.S. farmland, what he calls the "breadbasket of the globe."
By Carey Gillam
BOSTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) – U.S. investment adviser Optima Fund Management is picking up new U.S. farm properties at a brisk pace as it prepares to take public its farmland real estate investment trust, a top Optima executive said Tuesday.
“There are a lot of institutional investors who are recognizing the opportunity here,” Optima Fund Management Executive Managing Director Tom Gimbel said in a presentation Tuesday to a gathering of agricultural investors. “I think we are at an inflection point.”
Optima, a $4.5 billion private investment firm specializing in hedge funds, started investing in U.S. farmland about two years ago, but it still comprises a small percentage of its portfolio.
Optima intends to list its American Farmland Co REIT in the next three to four years, Gimbel told the Agriculture Outlook Americas conference in Boston. He said Optima has been talking with investment banks and underwriters about the prospects, which appear to be “extremely good.”
Optima is not the first to push for a public farmland REIT. Gladstone Land Corp, a REIT focused on agricultural properties, in August filed plans with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering on Nasdaq under the symbol “LAND.” [ID:nSGE6750KF]
As it prepares for its own offering, Optima’s farmland REIT is diversifying its farmland holdings across the United States, with ownership of 12 different crop varieties, including corn and soybean farms in Illinois, and a vineyard in Monterrey, California.
Optima currently is close to completing the acquisitions of a vegetable farm in Florida, a rice farm in the Mississippi Delta and a walnut grove in California, according to Gimbel.
But the fundamentals for U.S. farmland are strong and growing, Gimbel said.
In a July report, Optima said it saw a long-term, “super cycle” for agriculture continuing for many reasons, including China’s strong demand for U.S. grain, a growing world population that will continue to drive food demand, and a global scarcity for land and water for food production.
Gimbel said Optima is exploring international agricultural investment opportunities, but currently is focusing on U.S. farmland, what he called the “breadbasket of the globe.”
U.S. farmland investments are seen generating lower returns than deals many other investors are pursuing in international markets, but are seen as far less risky, he said.
“We’re starting with the U.S.,” he said. (Reporting by Carey Gillam; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Maureen Bavdek)
Optima's Thomas Gimbel said they are exploring international agricultural investment opportunities, but currently are focusing on U.S. farmland, what he calls the "breadbasket of the globe."
By Carey Gillam
BOSTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) – U.S. investment adviser Optima Fund Management is picking up new U.S. farm properties at a brisk pace as it prepares to take public its farmland real estate investment trust, a top Optima executive said Tuesday.
“There are a lot of institutional investors who are recognizing the opportunity here,” Optima Fund Management Executive Managing Director Tom Gimbel said in a presentation Tuesday to a gathering of agricultural investors. “I think we are at an inflection point.”
Optima, a $4.5 billion private investment firm specializing in hedge funds, started investing in U.S. farmland about two years ago, but it still comprises a small percentage of its portfolio.
Optima intends to list its American Farmland Co REIT in the next three to four years, Gimbel told the Agriculture Outlook Americas conference in Boston. He said Optima has been talking with investment banks and underwriters about the prospects, which appear to be “extremely good.”
Optima is not the first to push for a public farmland REIT. Gladstone Land Corp, a REIT focused on agricultural properties, in August filed plans with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering on Nasdaq under the symbol “LAND.” [ID:nSGE6750KF]
As it prepares for its own offering, Optima’s farmland REIT is diversifying its farmland holdings across the United States, with ownership of 12 different crop varieties, including corn and soybean farms in Illinois, and a vineyard in Monterrey, California.
Optima currently is close to completing the acquisitions of a vegetable farm in Florida, a rice farm in the Mississippi Delta and a walnut grove in California, according to Gimbel.
But the fundamentals for U.S. farmland are strong and growing, Gimbel said.
In a July report, Optima said it saw a long-term, “super cycle” for agriculture continuing for many reasons, including China’s strong demand for U.S. grain, a growing world population that will continue to drive food demand, and a global scarcity for land and water for food production.
Gimbel said Optima is exploring international agricultural investment opportunities, but currently is focusing on U.S. farmland, what he called the “breadbasket of the globe.”
U.S. farmland investments are seen generating lower returns than deals many other investors are pursuing in international markets, but are seen as far less risky, he said.
“We’re starting with the U.S.,” he said. (Reporting by Carey Gillam; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Maureen Bavdek)
Private equity sees “buckets of money” in water buys
Reuters | 9 November 2010
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Water scarcity will generate big returns for the irrigation sector once climate change and population growth take their toll on farming, private equity managers said on Tuesday.
Asked at an agriculture investing conference whether it is possible to make money from water, typically a public good rather than a bankable commodity, Judson Hill of NGP Global Adaptation Partners was unequivocal.
“Buckets, buckets of money,” he told the meeting of bankers and investors in Geneva, a leading European hub for commodity trading. “There are many ways to make a very attractive return in the water sector if you know where to go.”
Smart irrigation technology will be at a premium in arid regions and places where higher crop yields are needed to meet rising food demand, Hill said, also citing opportunities from water rights in Australia and parts of the United States.
“Irrigation is a big industry and it is growing. I think it’s going to grow dramatically,” he said, estimating the sector at $3.5 billion today. “In parts of the U.S. we still grow rice in the desert, as crazy as that is. I think that will change.”
Gary Taylor, a partner with AgriCura, a fund focused on U.S. corn, soybean, cotton, rice and wheat farming, said water was fundamental to smart agricultural land investments.
“We have done extensive work to understand the aquifer system along the Mississippi river and do believe over the term of our fund that water will become increasingly important,” Taylor, a former executive at Cargill, said.
For agricultural equipment manufacturers such as John Deere (DE.N), there are also opportunities in tailoring irrigation systems to drought-resistant seeds developed by companies such as Monsanto (MON.N), Dupont (DD.N) and Syngenta (SYNN.VX).
“There are very efficient ways to approach irrigation,” said Cory Reed, John Deere’s director of strategic marketing, describing a need to water certain commodity crops with careful volumes on a fixed schedule.
Hill also named links with communities as critical to gaining traction in the “very, very local” water sector, where investments can involve negotiations with governments amid growing awareness about scarcity risks.
“The water business is very much like the energy business was 20 or 25 years ago,” he said. “As the price of water increases we are all going to become better stewards, not because we all become environmentalists but because it will affect our pocketbooks.” (Editing by Janet Lawrence)
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Water scarcity will generate big returns for the irrigation sector once climate change and population growth take their toll on farming, private equity managers said on Tuesday.
Asked at an agriculture investing conference whether it is possible to make money from water, typically a public good rather than a bankable commodity, Judson Hill of NGP Global Adaptation Partners was unequivocal.
“Buckets, buckets of money,” he told the meeting of bankers and investors in Geneva, a leading European hub for commodity trading. “There are many ways to make a very attractive return in the water sector if you know where to go.”
Smart irrigation technology will be at a premium in arid regions and places where higher crop yields are needed to meet rising food demand, Hill said, also citing opportunities from water rights in Australia and parts of the United States.
“Irrigation is a big industry and it is growing. I think it’s going to grow dramatically,” he said, estimating the sector at $3.5 billion today. “In parts of the U.S. we still grow rice in the desert, as crazy as that is. I think that will change.”
Gary Taylor, a partner with AgriCura, a fund focused on U.S. corn, soybean, cotton, rice and wheat farming, said water was fundamental to smart agricultural land investments.
“We have done extensive work to understand the aquifer system along the Mississippi river and do believe over the term of our fund that water will become increasingly important,” Taylor, a former executive at Cargill, said.
For agricultural equipment manufacturers such as John Deere (DE.N), there are also opportunities in tailoring irrigation systems to drought-resistant seeds developed by companies such as Monsanto (MON.N), Dupont (DD.N) and Syngenta (SYNN.VX).
“There are very efficient ways to approach irrigation,” said Cory Reed, John Deere’s director of strategic marketing, describing a need to water certain commodity crops with careful volumes on a fixed schedule.
Hill also named links with communities as critical to gaining traction in the “very, very local” water sector, where investments can involve negotiations with governments amid growing awareness about scarcity risks.
“The water business is very much like the energy business was 20 or 25 years ago,” he said. “As the price of water increases we are all going to become better stewards, not because we all become environmentalists but because it will affect our pocketbooks.” (Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Bankers, funds try to cope with demand for farms
Reuters | 9 November 2010
"There aren't many Goldman Sachs bankers walking around rural China looking for dairy farms," says Rich Gammill, managing director of the Cargill unit Black River Asset Management (Photo: Xinhua).
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Bankers and fund managers are scrambling to build up rural expertise in response to rocketing investor demand to buy entire farms as an inflation hedge.
Investment funds worldwide have put an estimated $15 billion to $20 billion in agriculture globally, and interest is also growing from ultra-rich investors and pension funds, which see farmland as tangible, strategic assets.
But Rich Gammill, managing director of the Cargill unit Black River Asset Management, which manages $6 billion including in food and agriculture, said farmland investments can be tricky.
“It seems simple, but agriculture is anything but. There is a global supply chain and lots of regulation, a lot of risks and factors that I think the traditional finance people on Wall Street do not have their heads wrapped around,” he said.
Many investors also want international holdings, requiring their advisers to navigate different tax and regulatory systems, as well as rules on foreign land ownership.
“There aren’t many Goldman Sachs bankers walking around rural China looking for dairy farms,” Gammill said.
In the United States, the $1.2 trillion farming sector remains less than 1 percent institutionally owned, mainly because many investors don’t know how to get started, said Mary McNairy, a partner at International Farming Corp, an alternative investment firm.
“It is huge. The question is, how do you get into it, how do you access the market,” she said.
NEED FOR LOCAL CONTACTS
Gary Taylor, a partner with AgriCura, a fund focused on U.S. corn, soybean, cotton, rice and wheat farming, estimated that over the next decade 50 percent of U.S. farmland will change hands, mainly because of the advanced age of most farmers.
Buying agricultural lands requires local links, said Tim Hornibrook, division director of Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management.
“It is essentially a private market. That makes it hard to get access but it also presents great opportunity,” he said.
Several investment managers also described the struggle to bridge the gap “between Wall Street and the farm track”, with a search for farm managers who can deal well with investors and bankers who understand the basics of agricultural operations.
They may also need to learn to cope with farmland issues including jobs and security of food supplies.
Several dozen farmers, union members and activists protested outside the luxury Geneva hotel where the agriculture investing conference was held on Tuesday, saying foreign purchases of farmland risked choking off local food supplies.
“This is the consequence we fear from the liberalisation of agriculture,” said Rudi Berli, a Geneva-based vegetable farmer, who described risks for developing countries in particular. “The small producers are going to suffer from this.”
But Hornibrook of Macquarie said agriculture investors would tread lightly on the terrain they purchased.
“Sustainability is just part of what you do as part of good business practice,” he said. “If you manage your land in the right way, it is going to increase the viability of that land longer term.”
(Editing by Jane Baird)
"There aren't many Goldman Sachs bankers walking around rural China looking for dairy farms," says Rich Gammill, managing director of the Cargill unit Black River Asset Management (Photo: Xinhua).
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Bankers and fund managers are scrambling to build up rural expertise in response to rocketing investor demand to buy entire farms as an inflation hedge.
Investment funds worldwide have put an estimated $15 billion to $20 billion in agriculture globally, and interest is also growing from ultra-rich investors and pension funds, which see farmland as tangible, strategic assets.
But Rich Gammill, managing director of the Cargill unit Black River Asset Management, which manages $6 billion including in food and agriculture, said farmland investments can be tricky.
“It seems simple, but agriculture is anything but. There is a global supply chain and lots of regulation, a lot of risks and factors that I think the traditional finance people on Wall Street do not have their heads wrapped around,” he said.
Many investors also want international holdings, requiring their advisers to navigate different tax and regulatory systems, as well as rules on foreign land ownership.
“There aren’t many Goldman Sachs bankers walking around rural China looking for dairy farms,” Gammill said.
In the United States, the $1.2 trillion farming sector remains less than 1 percent institutionally owned, mainly because many investors don’t know how to get started, said Mary McNairy, a partner at International Farming Corp, an alternative investment firm.
“It is huge. The question is, how do you get into it, how do you access the market,” she said.
NEED FOR LOCAL CONTACTS
Gary Taylor, a partner with AgriCura, a fund focused on U.S. corn, soybean, cotton, rice and wheat farming, estimated that over the next decade 50 percent of U.S. farmland will change hands, mainly because of the advanced age of most farmers.
Buying agricultural lands requires local links, said Tim Hornibrook, division director of Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management.
“It is essentially a private market. That makes it hard to get access but it also presents great opportunity,” he said.
Several investment managers also described the struggle to bridge the gap “between Wall Street and the farm track”, with a search for farm managers who can deal well with investors and bankers who understand the basics of agricultural operations.
They may also need to learn to cope with farmland issues including jobs and security of food supplies.
Several dozen farmers, union members and activists protested outside the luxury Geneva hotel where the agriculture investing conference was held on Tuesday, saying foreign purchases of farmland risked choking off local food supplies.
“This is the consequence we fear from the liberalisation of agriculture,” said Rudi Berli, a Geneva-based vegetable farmer, who described risks for developing countries in particular. “The small producers are going to suffer from this.”
But Hornibrook of Macquarie said agriculture investors would tread lightly on the terrain they purchased.
“Sustainability is just part of what you do as part of good business practice,” he said. “If you manage your land in the right way, it is going to increase the viability of that land longer term.”
(Editing by Jane Baird)
South America tops farmland investors’ wish-list
Reuters | 10 November 2010
Black River Asset Management, part of the U.S. agri-business giant Cargill, controls 50,000 hectares of productive land in South America and is looking for more chances to strike big farmland and food production deals.
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Farmers’ fields in Brazil and Argentina are among the most prized assets in a new global market for agricultural land that has sprung up alongside soaring commodity prices.
Private equity and fund managers at a farm investing conference in Geneva named South America a top place to buy, lease and manage agricultural lands for profit.
“The South American marketplace is really booming along right now,” said Mark Zenuk, managing director of the $3 billion NGP Global Adaptation Partners fund.
Black River Asset Management, part of the U.S. agri-business giant Cargill, controls 50,000 hectares of productive land in the region and is looking for more chances to strike big farmland and food production deals.
“It’s a scale approach, for sure,” said Rich Hammill, managing director of Black River, which manages some $6 billion in assets worldwide.
Carlos Aguiar, chief executive of the Macquarie Crop Fund, told the Geneva conference there was an active market in buying and selling Brazilian land.
“There is a scarcity of food and scarcity of land and Brazil is one of the only places that you can expand drastically and have the market that has the technology and the infrastructure in place for that,” he said.
EXPORT TAXES
South America accounts for 59 percent of global exports of oilseeds, 11 percent of grains and 37 percent of meat, said Gonzalo Fernandez Castro of Lumix Capital, who invests in farming in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Paraguay.
With agricultural commodity prices at multi-year highs, buying farmland is seen as a more direct way to cash in on valuable crops and to take advantage of long-term appreciation of farm property.
“For most investors, agriculture is a very, very new asset class,” said Tim Hornibrook of Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management, who said it was typical for people to invest first in domestic farming markets to avoid more complex risks.
For NGP Global Adaptation Partners, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay are all attractive destinations and Argentina is under review following the death of former President Nestor Kirchner, a leftist political force who was due to run again in 2011.
“Argentina is extremely interesting,” Zenuk said. “It’s a great breadbasket to the world and it has a good infrastructure system. The problem is they have an export tax regime that they mess around with all the time.”
“You don’t want to be in an asset class where you are not able to market the material on a global basis,” Zenuk continued. “It does provide some difficulty in putting our money there, in a private equity sense.”
But Mark McLornan, the chief executive of Agro Terra, an Argentine farm investment firm which has logged 53 percent net returns in the last four years, said government controls were already factored into his business plans.
“A reduction in export taxes is money straight to my bottom line,” he said. McLornan said Argentina was also appealing as a farm investment destination because of its demographics.
While the average age of farmers in the U.S., European Union and Australia is around 60, in Argentina it is 40, meaning its farm labour force is robust and knowledgeable. “In Argentina it is a sector where people want to work,” he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Black River Asset Management, part of the U.S. agri-business giant Cargill, controls 50,000 hectares of productive land in South America and is looking for more chances to strike big farmland and food production deals.
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Farmers’ fields in Brazil and Argentina are among the most prized assets in a new global market for agricultural land that has sprung up alongside soaring commodity prices.
Private equity and fund managers at a farm investing conference in Geneva named South America a top place to buy, lease and manage agricultural lands for profit.
“The South American marketplace is really booming along right now,” said Mark Zenuk, managing director of the $3 billion NGP Global Adaptation Partners fund.
Black River Asset Management, part of the U.S. agri-business giant Cargill, controls 50,000 hectares of productive land in the region and is looking for more chances to strike big farmland and food production deals.
“It’s a scale approach, for sure,” said Rich Hammill, managing director of Black River, which manages some $6 billion in assets worldwide.
Carlos Aguiar, chief executive of the Macquarie Crop Fund, told the Geneva conference there was an active market in buying and selling Brazilian land.
“There is a scarcity of food and scarcity of land and Brazil is one of the only places that you can expand drastically and have the market that has the technology and the infrastructure in place for that,” he said.
EXPORT TAXES
South America accounts for 59 percent of global exports of oilseeds, 11 percent of grains and 37 percent of meat, said Gonzalo Fernandez Castro of Lumix Capital, who invests in farming in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Paraguay.
With agricultural commodity prices at multi-year highs, buying farmland is seen as a more direct way to cash in on valuable crops and to take advantage of long-term appreciation of farm property.
“For most investors, agriculture is a very, very new asset class,” said Tim Hornibrook of Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management, who said it was typical for people to invest first in domestic farming markets to avoid more complex risks.
For NGP Global Adaptation Partners, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay are all attractive destinations and Argentina is under review following the death of former President Nestor Kirchner, a leftist political force who was due to run again in 2011.
“Argentina is extremely interesting,” Zenuk said. “It’s a great breadbasket to the world and it has a good infrastructure system. The problem is they have an export tax regime that they mess around with all the time.”
“You don’t want to be in an asset class where you are not able to market the material on a global basis,” Zenuk continued. “It does provide some difficulty in putting our money there, in a private equity sense.”
But Mark McLornan, the chief executive of Agro Terra, an Argentine farm investment firm which has logged 53 percent net returns in the last four years, said government controls were already factored into his business plans.
“A reduction in export taxes is money straight to my bottom line,” he said. McLornan said Argentina was also appealing as a farm investment destination because of its demographics.
While the average age of farmers in the U.S., European Union and Australia is around 60, in Argentina it is 40, meaning its farm labour force is robust and knowledgeable. “In Argentina it is a sector where people want to work,” he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/07/2010
Le mythe agraire de Isis & Osiris
Le mythe égyptien de Osis et Osiris a une dimension agraire. En effet on peut facilement retracer l'origine agricole de cette fable, dont les principaux personnages prennent place dans le monde naturel. Prenons d'abord le cas d'Osiris. Ce dieu est reconnu par les Egyptiens comme le Grand Constructeur, le Grand Civilisateur, celui qui permet à l'Egypte de passer du monde de la chasse à celui de l'agriculture. En fait, pour l'Egypte antique, l'épi de blé mûri au soleil représente le dieu même, un dieu gorgé de soleil et de pouvoir nourricier.
On présente également Osiris comme un grand conquérant car il a su fléchir par le pouvoir de la douceur tout le monde connu d'alors. Ici encore, il s'agit sans doute d'une métaphore évoquant le succès de la culture du blé auprès des peuples ainsi affranchis des aléas de la chasse. C'est sans doute pourquoi il est dit qu'avec Osiris "le maitre de toutes choses arrivait à la lumière". Le blé que l'on peut engranger, le blé que l'on peut moudre, le blé dont on peut faire du pain dégusté en toute saison, ce blé d'est rapidement imposé aux humains; il a joui des égards qu'on accorde à un roi.
Osiris représente également les crues du Nil, responsables de la croissance du blé. Isis, sa tendre épouse, représente la terre humide, la terre fertile, la terre créatrice, fécondée par le pouvoir générateur des crues d'Osiris. Et Seth repsérente la terre aride du désert avec son vent chaud et desséchant qui dispute sans cesse à Osiris la terre fertile.
Car Seth, le maitre des tempètes et de tous les désordres, ne représente pas uniquement le pouvoir de la sécheresse. Par extension, il devient responsable du sort que le blé va subir au cours de maintes transformations. En effet, on coupe l'épi de blé mûr et, ensuite, on sépare la partie alimentaire de l'écorce en le faisant piétiner par des taureaux. Métaphoriquement, Seth devient donc le bourreau, celui qui abat Osiris, qui le démembre, qui l'enferme et en disperse les morceaux lors des semis.
Esis entre alors en scène, elle accueille les morceaux de son mari port dans le sein de la terre. Grâce au pouvoir de féminin créateur, elle le remembre et lui redonne vie, si bien qu'il reâît pour la prochaine moisson.
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