WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Bunge Ltd. is relocating its global headquarters from White Plains to St. Louis.

“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.

“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,” Mr. Heckman said.

In its history Bunge has moved its global headquarters several times. The company was established in Amsterdam, 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. Bunge North America’s headquarters made its move to St. Louis in 1990.

The company moved its global headquarters in 1975 to São Paulo, Brazil. Lastly, Bunge moved its headquarters to White Plains in 1998. The move preceded by three years the company’s listing, for the first time ever, on the New York Stock Exchange, with an initial public offering of shares.

Bunge processes and supplies oilseed and grain products and ingredients and has 31,000 employees worldwide.

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 bus.