Chinese food processor and trader Cofco International Ltd has employed 12 more grain buyers in Brazil so it can increase its purchases of soybeans grown there, Bloomberg reports.

The news agency says the new buyers will deal direct with farmers in the states of Mato Grosso, Goias, Parana, and Rio Grande do Sul.

The report says the Cofco International commercial department in Brazil has about 350 employees.

Cofco International is also consolidating its operations at two terminals it uses in the Brazilian port of Santos, with a view to improving its arrangements for shipping grain out of Brazil, Bloomberg says.