Bunge and Moinho Fluminense (1887 to 1994): building an economic group in Brazil

Abstract

This article aims to verify how a Bunge Brasil firm, Moinho Fluminense, constituted an economic group throughout the 20th century. We will try to demonstrate that the wheat milling went through several transformations in the period and the mill was adapting and contributing to these changes. As for the empirical data, the research worked with primary sources consulted at the Bunge Memory Center, in secondary documents about its history, in addition to interviews. Theoretically, the text follows the thinkers who proposed explanations for the formation of economic groups in peripheral economies. As a main conclusion, it can be stated that Moinho Fluminense became an economic group as it reinvested its capital, forming a business conglomerate with several affiliated firms, diversified into other sectors of economic activities and occupied the national territory.