WRAPUP 1-Bunge, Corn Products eye stronger demand

* Bunge, Corn Products earnings top forecasts

* Companies voice cautious optimism for 2012

* Macroeconomic woes keep pressure on Bunge agribusiness

* Bunge shares up 5 pct, Corn Products up 1.7 pct

By Tom Polansek

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Agricultural processor Bunge Ltd and ingredient company Corn Products International on Thursday expressed cautious optimism for 2012, projecting improved demand for crops and grain products.

The companies reported better-than-expected quarterly profits, emerging as bright spots in the agricultural arena following weak results from trading giants Archer Daniels Midland Co and Cargill Inc.

Bunge and Corn Products shares were up 5 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, in early afternoon.

Bunge, the world's top oilseed processor, fared better than its trader peers in volatile markets and lingering global economic uncertainty. The company predicted "good results" in a "challenging" environment in 2012.

"Based on what ADM and Cargill already put out there, people were probably expecting worse from Bunge, and that's why the stock is up so much today," said Jeff Stafford, an equity analyst for Morningstar.

Bunge, among the top sugar and ethanol producers, is one of four large players, know as the ABCD, that have traditionally dominated business in agricultural markets. The others are ADM, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus.

Bunge reported a fourth-quarter profit of $254 million, or $1.65 a share, compared with $301 million, or $1.95 a share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had forecast $1.57 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/s.

Sales rose to $16.45 billion from $12.73 billion. Analysts on average had forecast $13.73 billion.

ECONOMY PRESSURES

Macroeconomic woes continued to pressure Bunge's agribusiness unit, its largest segment, and could prevent growth in the unit this year, Chairman and CEO Alberto Weisser said. The segment buys, sells, transports, stores and processes bulk grains and soybeans.

Volatile trading and economic uncertainty have sapped revenue of agricultural giants, an abrupt change for top traders that would normally prosper during volatile times by using their vast global networks to exploit opportunities.

Some merchandisers have been caught flatfooted by swings in crop prices, moves that were driven by the euro zone crisis and not by supply and demand factors.

"We continued to be very, very conservative through the whole fourth quarter," Weisser told analysts on a conference call. "The whole market was much more difficult and all the players were more risk-averse."

Earnings before interest and tax of Bunge's agribusiness segment fell to $273 million in the quarter from $381 million a year before.

ADM last week reported overall earnings of $80 million for the last quarter, or 12 cents a share, down from $732 million or $1.14 a share.

Cargill in January revealed the quarter that ended Nov. 30 was its worst since 2001, singling out poor performance in trading operations for dragging down stronger earnings in its food and agricultural division.

ADM and Cargill have both announced plans to cut their global workforces.

SWEET OUTLOOKS

Higher prices and volumes in sugar cane milling and better results in oilseed processing in Asia, Europe and South America helped Bunge's profit.

Bunge predicted soybean processing will remain difficult in the United States in 2012. Soybean processors in general have suffered because margins for global soybean crushing have been under pressure due to excess capacity.

Yet crop losses due to a drought in South America could improve U.S. crush margins, as some buyers are shifting business to the United States, Weisser said.

"Bunge's commentary on its 2012 outlook suggests ongoing improvements in earnings," Citi analyst David Driscoll said.

Fourth-quarter profit for Corn Products International, which makes starches, sweeteners and food ingredients, rose to $1.22 per share, from 67 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding items, the corn refiner earned $1.11 a share, beating market expectations of $1.08 per share.

Corn Products managed to pass on higher corn costs to its customers in its latest quarter.

Benchmark U.S. corn prices on the Chicago Board of Trade struck an all-time record near $8 a bushel in June, but are now holding steady around $6-$7.

Westchester, Illinois-based Corn Products projected full-year adjusted earnings of $5.00 to $5.25 per share and said it expects net sales to reach $7 billion in 2012. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $5.10 per share, on revenue of $6.75 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Corn Products shares were up 1.7 percent at $57.39 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday afternoon. Bunge shares were up 5 percent at $62.75. (Reporting By Tom Polansek annd Brad Dorfman in Chicago; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman and Matthew Lewis)