Look at All the Money Cargill Made
The commodities giant posted the highest net profit in its 157-year history. It pays to be king in uncertain times.
Privately held. Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg
The recipe for making money if you’re a commodities trader is simple: buy natural resources in one place and time and sell them somewhere else later — hopefully making a buck by exploiting the difference. Follow that recipe successfully many, many times, and the profits can be enormous, especially for the biggest players.
Consider Cargill Inc., the commodities giant that’s also the largest privately-owned company in the US. It reported a net profit of $6.68 billion for the fiscal year ending in May — the most it earned annually in its 157-year history — according to a copy of its accounts reviewed by Bloomberg Opinion. That’s a 35% increase from the previous fiscal year, which had also been a record. Revenue in the latest fiscal year rose to $165 billion, from $134.4 billion in 2021.