ADM halting domestic trading in China, cutting jobs in Shanghai

Ella Cao and Karl Plume

Mon, Apr 14, 2025, 1:51 PM 2 min read

By Ella Cao and Karl Plume

BEIJING/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Global atom merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland has begun shutting down home trading operations successful China and laying disconnected unit wrong its largest concern conception arsenic portion of a planetary cost-cutting push, the institution said successful an emailed connection connected Monday.

The determination was meant to assistance ADM, a grains trading elephantine that has been embroiled successful an accounting ungraded since past year, "remain agile successful a challenging environment," the institution said successful the statement.ADM's net person eroded owed to slumping harvest prices, inflation-reduced user request and anemic harvest processing margins, with operating nett down 40% past twelvemonth successful its ample Agricultural Services and Oilseeds (AS&O) division.

Rising commercialized tensions betwixt Washington and Beijing are present stirring up caller headwinds for ADM, which relies connected commercialized betwixt apical workplace goods exporter the United States and China, the apical importer.

The phase-out of home trading astatine ADM's Toepfer Shanghai subsidiary was expected to reason by the extremity of September, ADM said, adding that its different operations successful Shanghai would not beryllium affected.

The institution did not disclose the fig of layoffs, but a root acquainted with the substance said occupation cuts would interaction 40 to 50 employees, leaving lone astir 10 unit successful the fiscal hub of Shanghai.

"The full Ag Services and Oilseeds squad successful China has fundamentally been fto go," said 1 source, referring to ADM's largest concern segment.

ADM began layoffs successful February arsenic portion of a broader cost-cutting thrust to prevention $500 cardinal to $700 cardinal implicit the adjacent 3 to 5 years. The institution had posted its weakest fourth-quarter adjusted nett successful six years.

(Reporting by Ella Cao and Amy Lv successful Beijing and Karl Plume successful Chicago; Editing by Matthew Lewis)