Archer Daniels Midland, the US-based agricultural trading house, said it expected strong demand from emerging markets to continue as it reported a 15 per cent increase in annual profits.
The rise in earnings takes place against a backdrop of large increases in prices of agricultural commodities, from wheat to cocoa, driven by poor crops and increasing demand as consumption of food commodities emerges unscathed from the global financial crisis.
ADM said it was benefiting from “strong export demand” for crops such as corn in response to rising consumption in emerging countries, including China and India. The trader buys crops in the US and Latin America, processes it into products such as vegetable oil or sweeteners, before shipping them to China and elsewhere.