Chinese property development company Evergrande Group has announced a $1.6 billion expansion establishing a minimum of three units to produce and process grains, edible oils, dairy, and livestock. The new direction for the group will concentrate on grains and cooking oils focusing on organically grown soy oil, canola oil, and rice to meet the demand from Chinese consumers for safer food products. The group faces an uphill battle for market share however. Chinese grain markets are dominated by state producers and the edible oil sector is mainly controlled by global giants such as Singapore’s Wilmar International Ltd. which supplies 55% of the edible oil market, COFCO Corp. which controls 15%, Chinatex Corp. which controls another 15%, in addition to China’s national stockpiler China Grain Reserve Corp., and Sinograin.
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