POSCO Inter Enters US Grain Market... Aiming for Global Top 10

Joint Venture with Food Company Bartlett

On the 26th, POSCO International announced that it had signed a basic joint investment agreement on a food investment project with grain company Bartlett & Company in Kansas City, USA, the previous day. The intention is to make a full-scale entry into the US grain market to establish a stable food supply chain. Attending the signing ceremony were Jeong Tak, Vice Chairman of POSCO International, Bob Neff, President of Bartlett, and other representatives from both companies.

Jung Tak, Vice Chairman of POSCO International (left), is taking a commemorative photo after signing a basic joint venture agreement with Kirk Aubrey, Chairman of Savage Group (Bartlett Mo Group). Photo by POSCO International

Bartlett is a food-specialized company that owns about 15 grain terminals in the central United States. It sells corn, wheat, and soybeans to the US and Mexico. The annual handling volume is about 10 million tons, and it also operates the 10th largest flour mill in the US.

At the signing ceremony, both companies agreed to jointly promote grain procurement business and soybean processing business, establish a stable procurement system for US grains, and jointly develop overseas export markets.

Based on this, POSCO International will invest in shares within this year in the soybean processing corporation under construction by Bartlett. They plan to jointly establish and operate a joint venture with Bartlett.

The United States is one of the world's largest grain producers, and the company plans to build a procurement system handling 5 million tons of grain annually by 2030 through establishing a food value chain.

A POSCO International official stated, “Last year, Korea's grain self-sufficiency rate was only about 19%, and most major grains except rice are heavily dependent on imports. We will strive to secure overseas grain supply chains through increased grain procurement capacity and overseas asset investment, aiming to become one of the world's top 10 food business companies while contributing to national food security.”

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