OREANDA-NEWS. Mitsui & Co., Ltd. executed an additional investment in SLC-MIT Empreendimentos Agricolas S.A. ("SLC-MIT"), a large-scale agricultural production joint venture established in August 2013. SLC-MIT will use the increased equity to expand into the State of Mato Grosso, which is Brazil's biggest producer of soybeans.

SLC-MIT was established as a joint venture between Mitsui and SLC Agricola S.A. ("SLC," Head Office: Brazil), Brazil's largest agricultural production company. Last year SLC-MIT commenced production of soybeans and cotton on 22,000 hectares of leased land in the State of Bahia in northeastern Brazil. The total amount of the capital increase was US\\$22.5 million, of which Mitsui has invested USD 11.2 million based on its shareholding ratio of 49.9%. SLC-MIT will use the equity to lease land owned by SLC in the State of Mato Grosso, which is Brazil's leading soybean growing region. Initially it will lease 16,000 hectares of land, which it will use to produce soybeans, corn and sunflowers. The area of land leased will increase to 18,000 hectares in the next crop year.

In 2011 Mitsui made the Multigrain Group its wholly owned subsidiary. Companies in the group include Agricola Xingu S.A. ("Xingu," Head Office; Brazil), which owns farmland covering an area of approximately 120,000 hectares, equivalent to about one-half of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Xingu produces non-genetically modified soybeans and other products, and Mitsui has established a stable supply of Xingu's safe and trustworthy grains to customers in Japan and other markets.

Further, Mitsui is taking up the challenge of building its own distinctive agricultural management systems by exerting its integrated strengths by bringing together fertilizers, agricultural chemicals, IT and other business.

Through Xingu and SLC-MIT, the two mainstays of Mitsui's agricultural production business, we are determined to build a solid presence in the agricultural sector of Brazil, which is one of the world's leading food resource countries, and to contribute to the reliable supply of food to the world.