Green Plains Inc. (GPRE), which just became the first major ethanol producer to buy its own cattle-feed yard, has plans to milk it for more -- by buying the cattle too.

The fourth-largest ethanol maker in the U.S. bought the assets of Supreme Cattle Feeders from Agri Beef Co., including a feed yard and a grain storage facility near Kismet, Kansas, for $15 million. The move marks a shift for the Omaha, Nebraska-based company from selling distillers grain, a byproduct of ethanol production known as DDGS, to directly feeding it to cattle that the company plans to eventually buy, Todd Becker, Green Plains’ chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview today.

“As some of

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ArcelorMittal (MT), the world’s largest steelmaker, welcomed the potential removal of a near 10-year block on overseas takeovers in China’s steel industry.

ArcelorMittal is one of the few foreign steelmills with investments in China since the ban on overseas control was imposed in 2005. The world’s top producer and consumer is considering scrapping the ban which may be a catalyst for global mills to revive a push into China’s $423 billion steel sector where demand is seven times greater than in the U.S., the next biggest market.

“It’s good news that the government is moving forward on reforms and liberalization on foreign investment,” Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal, said in an interview

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