(Bloomberg) -- Louis Dreyfus Co. has surpassed rival agricultural trader Olam Agri Holdings Ltd.’s most recent bid for Namoi Cotton Ltd., as the bidding war for the Australian producer heats up. 

LDC, which already owns 17% of Namoi, offered to buy the remaining shares for A$0.67 each, 31% higher than its initial offer in January. That’s 1 cent above Olam Agri’s bid last week. 

The most recent offer values the Australian cotton producer at A$137.6 million ($91 million). Independent directors are considering the two and will provide a recommendation to shareholders in due course, LDC said in a statement on Tuesday. 

Olam Agri, based in Singapore, offered last Thursday to pay A$0.66 cents a share for Namoi, subject to gaining support from more than half the company’s shareholders. It said it would increase the offer to A$0.70 if it was able to secure at least 90% support. Rotterdam-based LDC said a day later that it wouldn’t accept Olam Agri’s bid. 

Both companies already have a foothold in Australia’s cotton industry, which is the world’s sixth biggest. Olam Agri acquired Queensland Cotton in 2007, and owns a number of ginning facilities in New South Wales and Queensland. LDC bought Dunavant’s Australian cotton business in 2010, and owns three processing plants in the country.

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