Nidera, a commodities trader in Rotterdam which is wholly-owned by China’s largest food and agriculture company Cofco Corporation, posted losses of $237.5m last year just down from the loss of $266.7m booked in 2016, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Friday.

The latest loss is yet another blow for Costco which paid $1.3bn for 51% of the shares in Nidera in 2014 and picked up the remainder for $450m in 2017.

Nidera is one of the world’s largest traders of grains, seeds and vegetable oils and has posted losses ever since the takeover, partly caused by embezzlement in Brazil and a fraudulent bio fuels trader in Rotterdam, the FD said.

Uneasy sector

Nidera’s peers in the grain trade also have problems. Commodities prices have been low for several years due to abundant crops.

Another Rotterdam firm, Louis Dreyfus, eliminated its dividend last year. The Dreyfus family which owns the multinational group normally receives an annual $270m in dividend payments.

Bunge, a US firm with a big presence in the Netherlands, issued three profit warnings last year. A rival, Archer-Daniels-Midland, is cutting jobs. Cargill, the last of the big four, is faring somewhat better largely because it has widened its focus to include meat, the FD said.