WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S. — Bunge Ltd. is relocating its global headquarters from White Plains, New York, U.S., to St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.

“While St. Louis is already an important hub for Bunge and our current North American operations, the city is also home to a number of food, agriculture, animal health and plant science organizations and customers,” said Gregory A. Heckman, chief executive officer of Bunge. “Moving the global headquarters to a location where Bunge has a major business presence is a big step forward in shifting the company’s operating model to align around a more efficient, streamlined global business structure.”

The company is in the early planning stages of the transition to the new global headquarters, which is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter 2020.

In its history Bunge has moved its global headquarters several times. The company was established in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 1818, before moving to Antwerp, Belgium, in 1859 to expand its footprint into Asia and Africa.

In 1884 Bunge expanded its operation into Buenos Aires, Argentina, by launching a grain trading company. It continued to expand in South America with wheat mills, grain export companies and more. Bunge then began trading in North America in 1918, where a few years later, in 1923, it founded the Bunge North American Grain Corp. in New York City, New York, U.S. Bunge North America’s headquarters made its move to St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., in 1990.

The company again moved its global headquarters in 1975 to São Paulo, Brazil. Lastly, Bunge moved its headquarters to White Plains, New York, U.S. in 1998.

“We are grateful to have called White Plains home for many years, and now look forward to the new growth and development opportunities that our expanded St. Louis presence will provide,” Heckman said.

Bunge processes and supplys oilseed and grain products and ingredients worldwide. Founded in 1818, Bunge has 31,000 employees worldwide as well as 360 port terminals, oilseed processing plants, grain silos, and food and ingredient production and packaging facilities around the world.

According to Sosland Publishing Company’s 2019 Grain & Milling Annual, Bunge North America has a total of 63 grain storage facilities with a total licensed capacity of 170.144 million bushels. It also has one port facility, 33 river facilities, 16 terminal facilities, 4 subterminal facilities and 9 processing plants.