Tokyo, July 1 - Itochu Corp , Japan's fourth-biggest trading firm, aims to double the volume of grains it handles globally when a terminal in the U.S. Pacific Northwest starts operating in 2011, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Last month, Itochu agreed to a joint venture to build a grain terminal in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, along with agribusiness major Bunge and South Korea's shipping firm STX Pan Ocean.
The export grain terminal has an annual capacity of about 8 million tonnes of grains.
"From 2011, when the facility starts operating, we aim to handle 20 million tonnes of grains globally," a manager in the provisions division told Reuters.
Wheat is expected to account for roughly 30 percent, followed by around 20 percent each of corn and soybeans, he said.
"We plan to export the bulk of grains shipped from this facility to Asia, especially the region's emerging countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand," he said.
CGB Enterprises Inc, Itochu's venture with the Japan National Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Associations (Zen-Noh) which buys grains from farmers, currently handles about 11-12 million tonnes of grains from U.S. Midwest locations.
Most of the grains collected at Midwest locations are exported from the Gulf coast port to Japan, the manager said. He said Itochu alone currently handles about 3 million tonnes of grains globally.
Japan is the world's fourth-biggest wheat importer.
Itochu is boosting its food processing and retail businesses in China to tap fast-growing demand, and the new facility on the U.S. west coast will help bolster its supply of grains to Asia, he said.
As for seeking new sources of grain supply, the manager said the company was conducting research in Russia including the quality of the grains and the cost of transporting them to Asia.
"We have an interest in Russia as a new source of supply, and are conducting research, but it is in an early stage with nothing concrete in sight," the manager said.
Itochu last year bought 20 percent of Ting Hsin Holding Corp, one of the biggest food manufacturing and distribution businesses in China and Taiwan for $710 million. The group includes Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holdings , which controls 51 percent of China's instant noodle market.
Itochu also signed a strategic alliance last year with China's largest agricultural trading and processing company, COFCO, to help procure food from around the world. Itochu and COFCO were discussing joint purchases of grains, dairy products and meat to boost their buying power in the international market.
"The facility on the U.S. west coast will also help strengthen this alliance as it helps secure raw materials," the manager said.