Louis Dreyfus Commodities, the grain trading giant, has reported a 67% drop in annual profits for 2015 to $211m as saturated global grain markets and a low-volatility environment weighed on margins. Sales for the year were back almost 14% to $55.7bn, while pre-tax profits halved to $416m.

Louis Dreyfus is almost 165 years old and is one of the four companies known as the ABCDs (ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Dreyfus) that dominate the grain markets. The key business of these companies is the origination, processing, refining and transport of grain commodities. Louis Dreyfus itself says it accounts for about 10% of all the grain traded in the world.

Last year, the group shipped some 81m tonnes from one destination to another – a 1% year-on-year increase.

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Strong performance

Louis Dreyfus said that its processing facilities performed well over the year, with strong processing throughput following another bumper grain harvest in all of its key origination locations including the US, Canada, South America and the Black Sea regions.

However, with abundant grain harvests around the globe, prices remained on the floor everywhere, resulting in a low-volatility trading environment. Louis Dreyfus is at its most profitable at times of market volatility, giving the group arbitrage opportunities shifting grains and oilseeds around the globe when prices are at odds in different markets or countries.

Louis Dreyfus chief executive Gonzalo Ramírez Martiarena said 2015 was a difficult year for the entire grain industry, with geopolitical issues contributing to reduced commercial opportunities.