The American ADM, one of the largest agribusiness companies in the world, completed in June another stage of the strategy that it has set in motion in recent years to advance in the Brazilian animal nutrition market, one of the largest in the world. The changes include restructuring of the industrial park and renewal of the portfolio.
Although it suffered a slowdown in the first half of this year, the segment, which usually has high margins, is one of the fastest growing in the traditional grain trading business and generated global revenues close to US$ 4 billion in 2022 .
According to Stella Natrielli, president of ADM’s PET & Animal Nutrition division for southern Latin America, the “operational transformation” of the multi in this area in Brazil gained traction with the separation between pets (dogs and cats) and production animals. And in 2022 involved the optimization and integration of factories. Last June, a repositioning was completed that made the ADM brand the main one in the animal nutrition market.
Optimization and repositioning became necessary after the acquisition of Neovia for 1.5 billion euros, completed at the beginning of 2019. The company belonged to the French central of cooperatives InVivo. The transaction made ADM one of the largest animal nutrition companies in the world. Particularly in Brazil, where múlti had already made several acquisitions and Neovia had 13 factories, progress was significant.
“We were with hundreds of brands, which meant hundreds of product offerings. Now we have a main brand and focus on delivering solutions to our customers, with products, services and technical support”, said the executive to IM Business.
With the downsizing of the structure, ADM now has nine factories in the animal nutrition sector in the country, distributed in São Paulo (two), Pernambuco, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Paraná, Goiás, Rio Grande do Sul and Rondônia. The units produce ready-to-eat feed, premix (aimed at large slaughterhouses and integrations) and active ingredients.
The company is the leader in sales of fish feed in Brazil, with emphasis on shrimp, and is also strong in sales of products for dairy cattle. The division in the country is also driven by the commercialization of premix (mixture of minerals, vitamins, amino acids and additives) for poultry. On the sales map, the South and Midwest regions are the most important, and ADM now wants to grow in “Matopiba” (confluence between Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia).
Results
ADM does not disclose the results of the PET & Animal Nutrition division in Brazil or in South America – from the country there are exports to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela –, but, given the Brazilian protagonism in the segment of animal proteins in general, it is known that have great weight in the world total.
In the second quarter of this year, the company’s global sales in the area of general nutrition (human and animal) reached US$ 1.853 billion, against US$ 2.003 billion in the same period of 2022. In human nutrition, operating profit remained practically stable in US$ 184 million, but in animal nutrition there was a drop from US$ 56 million to US$ 1 million, attributed to the reduction in the contribution of amino acids, the drop in world demand and high stocks, especially in the pet business.
Including all businesses, ADM ended the second quarter with global sales of $25.2 billion, 7.7% less than between April and June of last year. The company’s net income fell 25% to $927 million. This drop was directly influenced by the decline in results in the soybean processing area.
rations in Brazil
According to the National Union of the Animal Feed Industry (Sindirações), total feed production reached 20.5 million tons in the first quarter, and the forecast is for growth of 2% in 2023 as a whole, to around 84 million. From January to March, according to the entity, there was a drop in sales for beef and dairy cattle, stability in the pork and broiler chicken markets and growth in aquaculture, laying hens and pet food.