content_image/83574.jpg
## bunge designed its integrated operations to create 

natural effi ciencies. Fertilizer and agribusiness share a focus on the farmer; agribusiness supplies low-cost inputs for food products; and global logistics and risk management overlay our entire business. 

We realize, however, that we can do more. As a result, we are committed to continuously improving effi ciency by strengthening our processes, teamwork and assets. 

## global initiatives 

Bunge’s five global initiatives—Productivity, Quality, Safety and Environment (PQSE); Logistics; Information Technology (IT); People Development; and Innovation—provide a framework for increasing effi ciency. The initiatives improve core processes by identifying best practices from within the company and around the world, and promoting them throughout Bunge. True to our decentralized structure, employees drive the initiatives at the local level, where market visibility and agility are greatest and savings most achievable. 

In 2004, the PQSE working groups–procurement, grain handling, oilseed crushing, refining, safety and health, food and feed safety, environment, and sustainable development– identifi ed new approaches in their areas and began the rollout of pilot projects throughout the company. The Logistics initiative ran successful, and profi table, fi eld trials of enhanced loading techniques at ports. The IT initiative enhanced our global online logistics and freight management system. 

## spotlight on south america 

Developing efficient logistics is critical in South America. In the next fi ve years, the USDA predicts that South American agricultural exports will increase by more than 30 million tons. 

## we are committed to continuous improvement in effi  ciency 

With this growth comes a challenge: how to ensure that transport systems, already strained in some areas, keep pace with increasing production. 

As the largest agricultural exporter in South America, Bunge must meet this challenge. We are investing to do so. Inland transport is an important part of the equation. On average, crops travel more than 1,000 km from farm to export terminal in Brazil. Today, more than 65 percent of the country’s agricultural products are carried by truck. Truck freight is less reliable, harder on the environment and about 15 percent more expensive than rail. 

To help develop future rail capacity, Bunge entered into a long-term relationship with América Latina Logística (ALL) in 2004. ALL owns and operates railway networks in the southern Brazilian states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. Through the partnership, ALL guarantees Bunge signifi cant future capacity, at competitive rates, on vital rail lines that carry crops from inland growing areas in the south, and from Mato Grosso and Goías, to ports on the coast. In return, Bunge commits to ship increasing volumes of fertilizer and agricultural products 

<img src='content_image/83574.jpg'>

