Cofco to enter grain super league with IPO

Lausanne, Switzerland

CHINA'S Cofco, the commodity consuming giant's state-run grain trading company, is planning to list within three to five years, a move that would catapult it into the select stable of companies dominating global agricultural trade.

In just over a year, Cofco has invested US$2.8 billion to transform itself from a procurement operation into a global agricultural trader, via joint ventures with Noble Group's agribusiness and Dutch grain trader Nidera, after taking substantial stakes in the companies. "This should be not a Chinese, but a global company...the IPO will help us to achieve this standard," Cofco chairman Ning Gaoning said at the FT Commodities Global Summit.