The Pengxin group plans to acquire more Brazilian companies after in 2016 it completed the purchase of two, the chief executive of subsidiary Dakang International Food & Agriculture, Ge Junjie told the South China Morning Post.

Founded in 1997 by Jiang Zhaobai, the Pengxin Group has grown from a real estate developer to a world-wide buyer of agricultural businesses, and is now expected to become one of the world’s leading grain trading groups.

In 2016, the group paid US$290 million for a 57% stake in Fiagril and US$253 million for 54% of Belagricola, which is one of Brazil’s largest grain trading companies.

Following these two purchases, the group now controls a production of 7 million tonnes of soybeans and maize, and Ge said that the target is to reach 10 million tonnes by 2018.

“We will continue to invest in Brazil until we have tripled production to 30 million tonnes,” Ge said, adding that China is increasingly relying on imports of soybeans and maize to meet domestic demand.

China imported about 80 million tonnes of soybeans in 2016.

The South China Morning Post reported that the Shanghai-based Pengxin group hit the headlines in 2012 when it proposed to acquire 16 dairy farms in New Zealand. (macauhub)