Bunge Ltd. (BG)

Bunge Limited engages in the agriculture and food business. It operates in three segments: Agribusiness, Fertilizer, and Food Products. The Agribusiness segment engages in the purchase, storage, transport, processing, and sale of agricultural commodities that include grains and oilseeds, such as soybeans, sunflower seeds, rapeseed or canola, wheat, and corn; and commodity products. This segment sells its products to feed manufacturers, wheat and corn millers, and oilseed processors; and livestock, poultry, and aquaculture producers that use its products as animal feed ingredients; and edible oil processing companies. The Fertilizer segment produces and supplies fertilizers to farmers in South America. It engages in nutrients and retail operations, including mining and processing of phosphate ore; and the production of intermediate phosphate-based products for sale to fertilizer blenders. This segment’s products include phosphate rock, sulfuric acid, single super phosphate, phosphoric acid and dicalcium phosphate, and phosphate-based animal feed ingredients. It also produces, distributes, and sells blended NPK formulas and other fertilizer products directly to retailers, processing and trading companies, and farmers in Brazil and Argentina. This segment markets its fertilizers under the IAP, Manah, Ouro Verde, and Serrana brands. The Food Products division offers edible oil products and milling products for food processors, foodservice companies, and retail outlets. This segment provides bottled, packaged and bulk oils, shortenings, margarine, mayonnaise, and other products derived from the vegetable oil refining process; and wheat flours and corn products, including milled corn meal, flours grits, soy-fortified corn meal, corn-soy blend products, corn oil, and corn feed products. It has operations in Europe, the United States, Brazil, Asia, Canada, and Argentina. Bunge Limited was founded in 1818 and is headquartered in White Plains, New York.

For the nine months ended 30 September 2006, Bunge Limited's revenues increased 5% to $18.59B. Net income decreased 33% to $257M. Revenues reflect increased sales from the Agribusiness segment and higher sales from Edible Oil products segment in Europe due to consolidation of an acqusition in Poland & rise in volume. Net income was offset by an increase in interest expense due to rise in short-term interest rate and lower gross profit.