Cargill to shutter London ocean shipping office

The global dry bulk commodities trader Cargill said Thursday that it intends to close the London office of its ocean transportation arm due to deteriorating market conditions.    The global dry-bulk commodities trader Cargill said Thursday that it intends to close the London office of its ocean transportation arm.
   The company said its decision was made in “light of the challenges being faced by the freight market, which is in its most distressed position since the mid-1980s, a situation that looks likely to continue for the foreseeable future.”
   The dry-bulk commodities market has suffered from China’s economic slowdown, as well as from the glut of dry-bulk vessel capacity. 
   Cargill has 10 employees currently located at its ocean transportation office in London. The company intends to consolidate its freight activities in Geneva.
   Cargill Ocean Transportation manages more than 500 dry-bulk vessels, transports over 220 million metric tons of 100 different dry-bulk commodities, and makes more than 12,000 port calls worldwide a year.