COFCO CEO Matt Jansen
Matt Jansen
HONG KONG — Matt Jansen, current chief executive officer (CEO) of COFCO Agri Ltd., has been appointed CEO of COFCO International Ltd., effective immediately, the company announced on July 18.

He will continue to serve as CEO of COFCO Agri, a position he has held since May 2015. COFCO Agri is a subsidiary of COFCO International.


“Now that COFCO Agri is to become the wholly-owned subsidiary of COFCO International, the integration of the two entities is on our agenda and will be the focal point of our blueprint going forward,” said Patrick Yu, CEO of COFCO Corporation and chairman of COFCO International.  “We look to Matt to bring to COFCO International the same acumen and insight he has brought to COFCO Agri and to take responsibility for the enhanced operation, profits and investors returns of COFCO International and its overseas businesses. Matt’s leadership will ensure the strong alignment we need to execute on our sustainable growth strategy.”

In May 2015, Jansen, who had abundant experience in the agriculture industry, was appointed as CEO of Noble Agri, which was renamed COFCO Agri in March after COFCO purchased Noble Group’s 49% stake in the business.  

Jansen had a series of positions of increasing responsibility with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), including president of ADM’s Global Oilseeds business, the company’s largest global business unit. He was also the senior corporate vice-president and chief risk officer of ADM.

“I am honored that Patrick and the board of COFCO International have confidence in the path we’ve set for ourselves,” said Jansen. “We have the opportunity to build a multi-flag global agribusiness serving new markets at a time of tremendous global change. I look forward to continuing on this course with the support of COFCO International.” 

COFCO International is the overseas investment and management platform for the agribusinesses of COFCO, with its upstream origination and trading operations linked to the downstream processing and distribution capabilities of COFCO and its affiliates in China to create a fully integrated value chain, consistent with COFCO’s strategy.

COFCO International is the parent company of both COFCO Agri and Nidera, a Dutch company which is a global commodity service and solutions provider for agricultural markets. COFCO International actively manages and oversees the operation and compliance of the two subsidiaries via its own management team.

COFCO Agri engages in agricultural trading and processing businesses, which it originates from surplus-producing regions such as South America, South Africa, East Europe, North America and Australia, to supply regions with high demand such as China, Asia and the Middle East. 

COFCO Agri owns and operates logistics and processing assets in strategic locations within key global trade flows. COFCO Agri had sales of $16.9 billion last year, and delivered 47 million tonnes of products globally, with 45 asset locations and 10,000 employees in 29 countries.