(Bloomberg) -- Cargill Inc. said two senior executives plan to step down at a time when the world’s largest agricultural commodities trader is shaking up its business following a decline in profits.
Julian Chase, the head of business operations and supply chain, and Treasurer Susan Conzemius Mercer will retire at the end of the year to focus on personal interests after more than 30 years at Cargill, a spokeswoman for the Minneapolis-based company confirmed.
Cargill has been restructuring its operations after less than a third of its businesses reached their earnings goal in the 2024 fiscal year. The company will reduce the number of units to three from five as part of its 2030 strategy, which also includes moves at the executive level.
Bumper global harvests have squeezed profits for agricultural commodities traders including Cargill. The squeeze in margins has been compounded by the smallest US cattle herd in seven decades, especially since the trading giant spent much of the past decade turning itself into one of the country’s largest beef processors.
Profits at Cargill, the largest closely held company in the US, fell to $2.48 billion in the year through the end of May, the lowest since 2015-16, Bloomberg Opinion’s Javier Blas reported last month. That’s less than half the record net-profit of about $6.7 billion it made in 2021-22.
Chase started his Cargill career as an intern at a corn mill in England and has since held various roles at the company in the US and Europe. Mercer has also held a number of posts at Cargill in places including the US and Asia, according to her LinkedIn profile.
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