PARIS - Global trading group Louis Dreyfus Commodities said on Friday it had bought a port terminal being built on the river Don in southern Russia, to expand its logistical capacity on a major grain export route. The facility under development is in the Azov district. It will house two berths and six grain silos, with operations due to start in early 2016, privately-held Louis Dreyfus said. “Upon completion, it will be used for the transshipment of grains on sea-river vessels with an initial annual export capacity of 500,000 tonnes, aiming to exceed 1 million tonnes over time,” the company said in a statement. Financial details were not disclosed. Russia is one of the world’s largest grain exporters and part of its shipments go along the river Don into the Azov Sea, which then connects with the larger Black Sea. The investment was “an important first step towards developing new alternatives in logistics, considering that small port flows account for a big part of total grain export volumes in Russia,” Cesar Soares, regional head of grains for Europe and the Black Sea at Louis Dreyfus, said in the statement. The acquisition followed a memorandum signed last month with the regional authorities and after Louis Dreyfus said last year it planned to develop an Azov export terminal.