February 6, 2009

Bunge Ltd., the world''s biggest oilseed processor, rose the most in two months in New York trading after Chief Financial Officer Jacqualyn Fouse said demand for soy and fertiliser will increase.

Bunge climbed US$3.86, or 9.1 percent, to US$46.45 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. A close at that price would be the biggest gain since December 16.

Fouse said soy demand will rebound after a "very difficult" fourth quarter, which in turn will boost sales of fertiliser.

Bunge posted its first quarterly net loss since it became a publicly traded company in 2001 as the recession hurt demand for soymeal and oil.

Bunge estimates soymeal demand will increase about 1.5 percent this year from 2008.

The fourth-quarter loss of US$210 million, or US$1.89 a share, compares with net income of US$245 million, or US$1.82, a year earlier, Bunge said. Sales fell 12 percent to $10.9 billion.

Capital spending this year will rise to US$950 million to US$1.05 billion, about 30 percent of which will be invested in maintenance and safety, Bunge said. The company spent US$896 million last year.

Soyoil prices averaged US0.33 a pound in the quarter, 23 percent lower than the same period a year earlier.

Prices reached a record US0.72 a pound in CBOT on March 4. Soymeal averaged US$265.26 per 2,000 pounds during the quarter, down 9.3 percent.

US soy use fell 14 percent last month from a year earlier after domestic demand for animal feed declined, the US Census Bureau said last week.

Feed consumption has slowed as livestock producers reduce their inventories to curb losses. US hog farmers cut their breeding herds 2.4 percent in the 12 months ended November 30, the USDA said in December.

Bunge, the biggest seller of fertiliser in South America, said its plant-nutrients unit had a loss of US$289 million, compared with a profit of US$52 million a year earlier.

The unit''s loss included foreign-exchange losses of about US$225 million as the Brazilian reai fell 18 percent against the US dollar. The company uses the dollar to finance the working capital of its fertiliser unit.

The company kept its January 13 per-share profit estimate of US$6.90 to US$7.60 for this year. The company earned US$7.73 a share last year.