Bunge is capitalizing on years of investment into its global footprint, with the commodity giant identifying opportunities in biofuels, feed, and food amid ongoing global volatility, as executives shared at BMO’s Global Farm to Market conference on May 13.
Bunge released its first quarter earnings on April 29 with net sales jumping to $21.86 billion in Q1 2026, compared to $11.64 billion in Q1 2025, on strong soybean and softseed processing demand and commodity prices, the company reported. Over the last year, Bunge’s stock is up more than 50% over, closing the day of the first day of BMO at $126.02.
The growth comes from a combination of capital investments and high demand for its products, the executive shared. For instance, Bunge’s acquisition of Viterra expanded its soybean crushing capacity globally, including filling a gap in Argentina, said Greg Heckman, CEO of Bunge.
“We now touch more farmers directly than anyone else on the globe. ... Most importantly, we can now connect those farmers to the consumers and feed, food, and fuel because we’re also in all of the key consuming markets with more capillary and granularity than we’ve ever had,” Heckman elaborated.
How geopolitics is opening a biofuel opportunity
Amid Iran war-induced fuel shocks, countries are exploring ways to diversify fuel sources, including through more ethanol and biodiesel, Heckman explained. Countries are embracing “a different posture globally as people think about fuel security, and the demand is up and to the right,” he added.
The U.S. changed it biofuel policy to allow for 15% ethanol blending (E15) through the summer. Brazil is using a 15% blend of biodiesel (B15) and working towards B16, while Malaysia is working on achieving 10% biodiesel blending (B10) from palm oil, he added.
“We’re partners in biofuels with not only Repsol but Chevron, and then we continue to talk to a number of people. So, there are projects being looked at all around the globe. And I think people just believe that policy around biofuels is going to continue to be constructive, and that’s great — very supportive for the oil leg and to be able to run our global footprint,” Heckman elaborated.
Bunge navigates China complexity
China is “one of the most important markets across all of the grains and oil seeds” and continues to be “the most important customer” to Bunge, Heckman said. However, China is committing to cutting total imports by 115 million tons by 2035, while the world power boosts domestic production, AgNavigator reported.
“Of course, long-term, we know [China continues] to work to be more self-sufficient in developing their own ag production and their own yields as they prioritize food security, but they’re always going to have multiple origins. That’s why they want the relationship with the US and with South America for food security to have the flexibility - to need those markets at different times of the season,” Heckman elaborated.
“The meal will find a home”
Over the years, soybean crushing capacity has expanded, raising supply-demand concerns. However, as consumers demand more protein — influence by GLP-1 trends and a food pyramid that moves from carbs to protein — soybean meal consumption is increasing as well, Heckman explained.
“We always said, ‘the meal will find a home.’ The market will work, and people love to feed soybean meal. It is the most effective nutrient. The price of lysing matters. The price of feed grains matters. And feed grains have been very well supplied, and they’ve been feeding very high rates of soy and corn,” he elaborated.
