St. Louis, Missouri
February 25, 2003

Bunge North America, the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG), announced today that within the next 4 to 8 weeks it will idle production at its soybean processing facility located in Cairo, Illinois due to a weak margin environment caused by declining demand for domestic soybean meal in the short-term and a smaller than anticipated U.S. soybean crop.

In announcing the action, John Klein, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bunge North America, stated, "While we continue to believe that long-term prospects for soybean processing in the U.S. are attractive, this is the first time since 1989 that domestic consumption of soybean meal is running below the previous year. Factors adversely affecting demand for soybean meal include lower demand from the pork and poultry sectors, which have experienced production cutbacks, and record crops in South America. Near-term margins are being impacted by this year's U.S. weather-reduced soybean crop. Reluctantly, we have concluded that it is prudent to decrease production at our Cairo facility."

Charlie Bussey, Senior Vice President of Bunge North America and General Manager of its Oilseed Processing Division, commented, "We regret stopping production at any facility and realize the impact on employees and the Cairo community. However, we must take this action to realign our oilseed processing capacity for better performance."

Bunge North America, the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG), is a vertically integrated food and feed ingredient company, supplying raw and processed agricultural commodities and specialized food ingredients to a wide range of customers in the livestock, poultry, food processor, foodservice and bakery industries. With headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, Bunge North America and its subsidiaries operate grain elevators, grain and oilseed processing plants, edible oil refineries and food processing facilities in the U. S., Canada and Mexico.

Bunge Limited is an integrated, international agribusiness and food company operating in the
farm-to-consumer food chain with worldwide distribution capabilities and primary operations in North America, South America and Europe. Headquartered in White Plains, New York, Bunge has over 24,000 employees and locations in 28 countries. Bunge is the largest processor of soybeans in the Americas, the world's leading oilseed processing company and the largest producer and supplier of fertilizers to farmers in South America.