Our Commodities
Grains and Oilseeds
Louis Dreyfus is consistently ranked every year as one of the world's largest merchandisers of
grains and oilseeds. Products traded today include corn, barley, wheat, sorghum, soybeans, canola,
sunflower and oilseed products.
Louis Dreyfus has a major presence in all of the major grain and oilseed production regions in
the world, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Europe, South Africa and the
states of the former Soviet Union. In addition to these origination activities, the Group is
engaged in a large distribution network in Europe, Asia, Africa, The Middle East and the former
Soviet Union. Offices in Paris, Singapore and Wilton (Connecticut) serve as hubs to coordinate the
merchandising activities of over 30 local offices. The Group's history and expertise in transport
logistics provide an advantage in merchandising activities.
The Group owns or operates many strategic assets around the world to conduct its global trading
and merchandising activities. Louis Dreyfus operates large export elevators in the United States
(Oregon, Washington and Texas) and Canada (Quebec). It also owns elevators along the Illinois River
and has built a series of new high-speed elevators in the Canadian interior that serve as
origination facilities to support export operations. In total, Louis Dreyfus has daily crushing
capacity of over 20,000 tons and refining capacity of over 900 tons per day in South America. In
Brazil, the Group operates six soybean-crushing plants, a cottonseed processing plant and a network
of port and storage facilities throughout the country. It also owns and operates the General Lagos
plant and port facility on the Paraná River in Argentina, which has water access for large
ocean-going vessels.
Citrus
Louis Dreyfus is one of the three largest producers of orange juice in the world with a 10
percent share of the global market. The Group operates processing facilities in Brazil and Florida
that have a combined annual capacity of 83 million boxes of oranges, producing 250,000 tons of
orange juice concentrate. Louis Dreyfus owns 25,000 acres of orange groves in Brazil.
Cotton
Louis Dreyfus, one of the largest traders and merchandisers of raw cotton in the world, handles
approximately four million bales of cotton each year. The Group originates cotton in over 20
different producing nations and exports to over 40 countries worldwide. In the Unites States, Louis
Dreyfus is a major supplier to domestic textile mills, supplying 15 to 20 percent of cotton
consumption, and operates over five million square feet of warehouse space. Louis Dreyfus owns 15
percent of Queensland Cotton, a leading Australian cotton ginner and marketer, and is active in
cotton production in West Africa.
Sugar
Louis Dreyfus ranks as one of the top three sugar traders in the world, trading both raw and
white sugar and handling more than four million tons of sugar annually. The group is the largest
supplier of sugar to us cane refiners, handling approximately 1.1 million tons a year, a third of
total cane refiner utilization. Louis Dreyfus owns two Brazilian plants that produce 250,000 tons
of sugar and ethyl alcohol annually.
Coffee and Cocoa
Louis Dreyfus is a leading trader of coffee, handling both arabicas and robustas and trading
four million 60-kg bags of coffee a year. Similar to its activities in sugar, the Group
participates in origination in numerous countries in Central and South America, Africa and the Far
East. Louis Dreyfus is also an active trader of cocoa in all major growing areas such as West
Africa, Indonesia and Brazil.
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