Singapore-based commodity trader Olam International Ltd. has expressed plans to take control of NZ Farmin Systems NZ Farming Systems Uruguay Ltd. offering NZ$109.6 million ($77 million).

Bloomberg TV said that the said plan by Olam will provide a boost to its current lack of dairy supply for its trading operations

Olam said in a statement. NZ Farming, which owns dairy farms in Uruguay, rose 27 percent, the most in almost 17 months, to 52 cents at 12:59 p.m. in Wellington.

Olam, which said last month it has $1 billion to spend on acquisitions and investments, currently sources dairy products from Europe, India and North and South America. Uruguay's dairy industry may benefit from global prices that are forecast to be "generally elevated" over the next five years as demand rises and cost pressures increase, according to a related report by Rabobank Groep in Melbourne today.

NZ Farming said in its website that it is converting its beef farms to dairying and had a $45.9 million loss in the year to June 30, 2009, as milk prices fell and it wrote down the value of livestock and farms. The loss narrowed to $7 million in the six months ended Dec. 31 as prices improved, it said in February.

The company had total livestock numbers of 54,300, including 19,600 milking cows as of December 2009, according to its website. Area in dairy production totaled 11,100 hectares (27,429 acres), it said.