Commodities trader Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) made progress towards its emissions reduction targets last year, it said in its consolidated financial and sustainability results statement.
“Throughout the year, we progressed toward our 2030 Scope 1 & 2 emissions reduction target through various improvement and energy-efficiency initiatives at our sites, as well as increasing use of renewable energies in our operations,” commented Michael Gelchie, LDC’s chief executive.
LDC also set Scope 3 emissions reduction targets for 2030 – to reduce the carbon intensity of sourced commodities by 20% and land use emissions by 30%, relative to a 2022 baseline.
‘Key part of business strategy’
The company said that sustainability is a ‘key part of [its] business strategy’, adding that it published its deforestation- and conversion-free (DCF) supply chain methodology last year, partnering with The Nature Conservancy to promote regenerative agriculture practices.
LDC also noted that it developed ‘value-added products and services to help meet customers’ decarbonisation and responsible sourcing needs’, including regenerative agriculture programmes in the Americas, and collaborations to promote camelina cultivation in South America.
“As we progress on our journey to grow our core business while diversifying into new activities, we are further developing, embracing and promoting adoption of new solutions, technologies and practices for efficiency, productivity, profitability and sustainability across our value chains: from the farms growing the crops we all depend on, to our customers and end consumers, and all the stakeholders in between,” Gelchie added.
‘Geopolitical and climate-related challenges’
In the year to 31 December 2024, LDC reported net sales of $50.6 billion (€44 billion), and EBITDA of $1,883 million, despite what it said were ‘new and ongoing geopolitical and climate-related challenges’.
Capital expenditure for the year totalled $1,005 million, with investments including the expansion of oilseed processing facilities in the United States and Canada, the construction of a pea protein isolate production plant in Canada, and commencement of construction on a new sugar transshipment terminal and a logistics hub for fertiliser and cotton businesses, both of which are in Brazil.
“Going forward, I am confident that LDC is well placed to continue growing and fulfilling the mission we have pursued for almost 175 years: to bring the right products to the right location, at the right time – safely, reliably and responsibly,” Gelchie added. Read more here.
