Bunge Global SA is the world's largest oilseed processor and, since its July 2025 merger with Viterra, one of the largest grain handlers. Founded in Amsterdam in 1818 and run today from St. Louis, Missouri, it reported $70.3 billion of net sales and $816 million of net income attributable to Bunge in 2025, with about 34,000 employees and more than 500 facilities and port terminals in over 50 countries.
How Does Bunge Make Money?
Bunge earns margins, not prices. It buys soybeans, canola, sunflower seed, wheat, corn and barley from farmers, then either sells the grain on to buyers in other regions or crushes the oilseeds into meal for animal feed and oil for food and renewable fuels. The crush margin, the difference between the cost of the seed and the value of its meal and oil, drives most of the profit. In 2025 Soybean Processing and Refining produced $36.3 billion of net sales, Grain Merchandising and Milling $18.1 billion, Softseed Processing and Refining $11.3 billion and Other Oilseeds $4.6 billion. Cost of goods sold took $66.9 billion, leaving a gross margin of 4.8 percent.
Who Founded Bunge and When?
Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge founded Bunge & Co. in Amsterdam in 1818 as an import-export house. His grandson Edouard moved it to Antwerp in 1859, and Edouard's brother Ernest went to Argentina, where in 1884 he and the Born family started the grain business that became Bunge y Born. Bunge entered Brazil in 1905 and North America in 1918, refocused on agribusiness in the 1990s and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001, after 183 years in private hands.
Who Runs Bunge?
Gregory A. Heckman has been CEO since April 2019, after joining the board in October 2018 under pressure from activist investors D.E. Shaw and Continental Grain and serving as acting CEO from January 2019. He previously ran The Gavilon Group. John Neppl is chief financial officer, Julio Garros has been sole chief operating officer since December 2025, and Mark Zenuk chairs the board.
What Did the Viterra Merger Change?
Bunge agreed to combine with Viterra in June 2023 and closed the deal on 2 July 2025 after approvals in Canada, the EU and China. Viterra's owners received about 65.6 million Bunge shares and about $2 billion in cash, and Bunge took on about $9.8 billion of Viterra debt. Glencore ended up with 16.4 percent of Bunge. Merchandised grain rose from 36.7 million metric tons in 2024 to 67.2 million in 2025, and cost synergies passed $70 million by year-end. Canada's approval required the sale of six Western Canadian elevators and at least ~$374 million (C$520 million) of investment in Canada within five years.
How Is Bunge Performing in 2026?
After a weak first quarter, with $68 million of net income, Bunge earned $678 million in the second quarter on about $24.0 billion of net sales as soybean and softseed crush results improved. It raised 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $9.25 to $9.75, up from $7.50 to $8.00 in February. At its March 2026 Investor Day it set a mid-cycle EPS baseline of about $13 and a goal of at least $15 by the end of 2030, and authorized a $3 billion share buyback. In March it also closed the purchase of IFF's soy protein concentrate and lecithin businesses, and in September it agreed to sell two Brazilian sugar mills to COFCO International.
Who Are Bunge's Competitors?
Bunge's main rivals are the other 'ABCD' traders: ADM, which reported about $80.3 billion of 2025 revenue, privately held Cargill, with $164 billion in fiscal 2026, and Louis Dreyfus. COFCO International and Wilmar compete strongly in Asia. Bunge is more concentrated in oilseed crushing than ADM or Cargill, which makes its earnings more sensitive to crush margins and US biofuel policy.
What Are the Biggest Risks for Bunge?
Soybean and softseed processing produced about 77 percent of adjusted segment EBIT in 2025, so a sustained fall in crush margins would hit earnings hard. US Renewable Volume Obligations set much of the demand for soybean oil, trade disputes can redirect flows between the US, China and Brazil, and Bunge's Ukrainian assets remain exposed to the war; a Russian drone strike hit its Dnipro sunflower oil plant in January 2026. Higher debt after Viterra means net interest expense of $620 million to $660 million is expected for 2026.