Miller Magazine Issue: 118 October 2019

34 NEWS MILLER / OCTOBER 2019 The riches on offer by supplying Black Sea grains around the world is proving too hard to ignore for Gemcorp Cap- ital LLP, a financial and trading company in London. The company won contracts in Ethiopian tenders in April to supply 900,000 tons of wheat, and will mainly source supplies from Russia, Ukraine and Romania. That’s about as much as Louis Dreyfus Co. and Olam International exported from Russia last season, according to estimates from Russian consultant ProZerno. Gemcorp says it wants to ship more in the coming years. While Gemcorp has handled agricultural commodities since 2016, the Ethiopian tenders have brought the first large-scale deals for the company and would mark its emergence as a big operator in the Black Sea. Gemcorp, which was founded by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner Atanas Bostandjiev in 2014 and focus- es on emerging markets, is one of the latest companies to expand in Black Sea grains. The area’s export market share expanded in the past decade thanks to bumper harvests and competitive prices. Africa, where Gemcorp has made loans, is among the biggest buyers of Black Sea wheat. “We initiated more extensive operations after identifying a chance to take part in Ethiopia’s tenders,” Sergei Pota- pov, general director at Gemcorp’s trading arm in Russia, told Bloomberg. “The general idea is to create a supply chain not only in Russia, but also start working in Ukraine and other grain origins.” For the Ethiopian tender contracts, Gemcorp may source most of the wheat from Russia, Potapov said. That could see Russia’s exports of the grain to the African country reach a record. As well as sourcing directly from farmers, Gemcorp plans to buy from other traders and boost grain shipments from Russia to several million tons a year. The company wants to tap demand from major import- ers in Africa and the Middle East, including Egypt and Sau- di Arabia. It has gained port-service quotas to ship grain from two Black Sea terminals this season and is in talks with other terminals to expand volumes, Potapov said. Black Sea grains are also drawing interest from other com- panies, including Russia’s VTB Group. The banking group recently bought assets including port terminals, a rail-freight operator and a trader, and has proposed creating a domestic grain champion. Gemcorp plans to expand its trading inter- ests in Russia to barley and sunflower oil in the future. But for now, the large Ethiopian wheat deals, which may take several months to wrap up, are a crucial test for whether the company can become a substantial player in the market. “We recognize the scale and importance of these contracts and have undertaken significant measures to ensure timely delivery,” Hay said. BLOOMBERG Kice announced the appointment of Alejandro Cardenas as a new Regional Sales Manager. In this role, Cardenas will be responsible for the oversight of sales throughout the Mexico territory, provid- ing support for this customer base for the diverse product lines offered by Kice. Cardenas holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and has spent the last seven years working for Polatecnia in the bulk solids industry in Mexico. “Alejandro is a great fit for this position, his experience and knowledge will be a great asset for us as we support our customers in this region, said Jeff Kice, Kice Industries. We are ex- cited for him to join our sales and support team, and I know he will build strong partnerships and add tremendous value to the customers in this area.” Founded in 1946, Kice Industries is a fourth-gen- eration, family-owned business based in Wichita, Kan. with a team of approximate- ly 300 employees. Kice Industries designs complete industrial air systems and builds most of the equipment specified for these systems. Applications include pneumatic conveying, dust control, and aspiration. A multi-industry company, Kice Industries serves the grain, plastics, food, feed, wood and minerals industries. Black Sea grains newcomer Gemcorp has big ambitions to expand Kice appoints new regional sales manager for Mexico Alejandro Cardenas