By the 2000s, the 5 privately-owned companies predominent in grain trading, the ABCDs; André, Bunge, Conti, Cargill, and Dreyfus are weared out by a decade of overcapacity.
In 1999 Continental is besieged by losses and the Fribourg family sells managed its commodity marketing business for ~$300M to Cargill. Conti was the 2nd largest U.S grain exporter.
André & Cie S.A remains a mystery to this day and unfortunately the only people who truly knew what upon Chemin Messidor 5-7 were the André Family. Continue reading
Navigating the Commodity Markets with Freight and Spreads 