Agriculture Products News

The Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project was included in President Joe Biden’s proposed Fiscal Year 2023 Budget released Monday under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Coastal Navigation Construction category. The President’s recommended funding targeted project closeout appropriations of $157.3 million. Once approved by Congress, the appropriation would complete the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project, rendering it the most improved ship channel in the entire U.S. Gulf Coast. The Port of Corpus Christi is the largest gateway for U.S.

Cargo volume at the Port of Los Angeles is down 15.5% so far this year as the novel coronavirus upends economies around the globe, Gene Seroka, executive director of the busiest U.S. seaport, said on a webcast on Wednesday.April volume was down 6.5% year-over-year as the financial and human toll of the pandemic come into focus in the United States and around the globe.Consumer demand for non-essential items has fallen off the cliff in the United States - where the pandemic is blamed for more than 71…

China's ports and shipping firms are bracing for a second wave of supply chain disruptions that may be deeper and more prolonged than during the country's coronavirus lockdown as the global spread of the virus chokes off international demand.With Beijing reporting only sporadic domestic transmission of the coronavirus since March, workers have been allowed to return to posts, factories are restarting and ports are rushing to clear a backlog of cargoes.But with virus outbreaks now overwhelming healthcare systems and shutting logistics channels in other major economies…

Missouri Port Authorities Team Up To Advance Plan For Statewide Initiative That Focuses On Innovative Inland Waterway Container-On-Vessel Freight Service.Missouri Governor Michael Parson visited the Mississippi River town of Herculaneum on August 12 to find out more about statewide efforts to deliver a new option to transport freight along the inland waterways and what role an innovative waterway vessel could play in moving larger volumes of goods and commodities along both the Mississippi River and Missouri River and their tributaries.

Lock Closures Starting on the Illinois Waterway This Summer May Result in  More Freight Flowing Through St. Louis Region.Businesses that move or handle commodities on the Illinois Waterway system are being encouraged to start making alternative plans due the scheduled closure of locks on that inland waterway system. With a two-week closure planned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beginning as early as August 2019 and closures of 90 to 120 days expected in the summers of 2020 and 2023…

Dennis Wilmsmeyer was appointed Executive Director at America’s Central Port on July 1, 2010, prior to which he served 11 years with the Port District, six as General Manager.With over 30 years of experience, Dennis brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table in the areas of transportation, planning, and economic development. His responsibilities include developing the Port’s 1,200-acre industrial park and business campus, redeveloping a former military logistics center…

Innovative waterway concept vessel could deliver transportation savings for shippers on the Mississippi River. Plans to transport freight via innovative waterway vessels that backers say will revolutionize the inland waterway system and provide significant transportation cost savings for shippers, especially those accessing the Midwest by utilizing the Mississippi River and its tributaries, are underway, according to Sal Litrico, CEO for American Patriot Container Transport, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Patriot Holdings LLC.Litrico presented information about Container on Vessel (COV) innovations at two St. Louis Regional Freightway Industry Forums in late August in St.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations, at the Charleston Seaport arrested a Goose Creek, S.C., woman on Wednesday who was wanted in connection with a local murder. The woman, destined to depart Charleston for the Bahamas on December 7, was the subject of an arrest warrant out of Berkeley County, S.C., for Obstructing Justice – Aiding and Abetting Murder. After verifying the individual’s identity and confirming the warrant, CBP officers, with assistance from South Carolina Ports Authority Police, arrested the individual and turned her over to the U.S. Marshals Service. “Intercepting dangerous criminals in…

Chinese steel and iron ore futures fell deeper into bear market territory on Thursday, as the country's exchanges unveiled more measures aimed at dampening the type of speculative trading behind a powerful rally last month. The aggressive steps to limit speculative buying have helped fuel a retreat in raw materials from steel to coal after the mid-April upsurge that inflated volumes and prices to levels that some analysts felt defied fundamentals. On Wednesday, the Dalian Commodity Exchange said it would set a maximum open interest limit for the trading of a single contract in a certain period, excluding business for hedging purposes. The move is aimed at preventing investors from taking excessive positions.

WCI and the Illinois Corn Marketing Board have undertaken a campaign with Google and YouTube to raise public awareness about the critical importance of inland waterways transportation to production agriculture. The goal of the campaign is to have more than one million people view WCI’s 30-second video, “Inland Waterways Are Critical to Agriculture!”  The campaign began August 10 and, to date, more than one million people (1,064,882) have viewed the entire video about the importance of efficient, modern waterways to the transport of agriculture products. There has been a corresponding increase in first-time visitors to WCI’s web site, with a 77% increase in new sessions/new visitors in one month since the campaign began. The campaign will continue until October 10.

The Port of New Orleans achieved record container volumes in 2014 thanks in part to the addition of new shipping services and an uptick in the national economy contributed. According to year-end totals, 490,526 twenty-foot-equivalent units moved through the Port’s Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal during the 12 months, an 8.8 percent increase over the 2013 total of 451,057. “Strong export markets, primarily for chemical and agriculture products, together with new inbound customers such as Chiquita contributed to record container volumes,” said Port President and CEO Gary LaGrange.

Port Metro Vancouver issued an announcement welcoming news of the signing of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement yesterday in Ottawa. The agreement will significantly boost Canada’s trade with South Korea, as well as provide strategic access for the Canadian import and export market to a key gateway to the wider Asia-Pacific region. “This is a historic agreement,” said Robin Silvester, President and CEO, Port Metro Vancouver. “South Korea is the port’s third-largest trading market, and an important trade partner for Canada in Asia. The agreement will benefit important sectors of Canada’s export economy, including metals and minerals, forestry products and agriculture products. South Korea is a key market for Canada’s resources, which come from provinces across the country.

Long established in the trucking, warehousing, cargo transfer and barging industry of Thailand, S.P. Inter Marine can be described as a broadly horizontally integrated firm. With a well constructed presence at Ayutthaya, about 80 kmup the Chao Phrya River from the Gulf of Thailand; it continues to expand its warehousing capacities for Thai agricultural cargos like tapioca. Its barge loading facility can handle a wide range of products from domestic aggregate to export agriculture products.

The operator of the South Korean ferry that capsized and sank this month with the loss of about 300 lives was apparently being squeezed by competition from budget airlines and had to increasingly rely on its cargo business. The Sewol ferry sank on a routine voyage south from the port of Incheon to the holiday island of Jeju on April 16. Investigators have not determined the cause of the accident but media has reported that the ship was overloaded with cargo and it may have been poorly stowed. The ship was carrying 476 passengers and crew and had a capacity for 956. The Korean Register of Shipping, which tested and certified the Sewol, stipulated that it should be loaded with no more than 1,070 tonnes of cargo and passengers combined. It is not clear how much cargo it was carrying.

According to the World Trade Club of New Orleans, Louisiana realized more than $13.4 billion in exports during the first six months of 2007, a 20.7 percent increase compared to the same period one year ago - and 2006 set records with exports valued at $23.5 billion for the entire year. Louisiana’s exports rank 11th among all 50 states, but the state’s export growth registered nearly double the U.S. rate at 10.6 percent. The World Trade Center’s report, using data compiled by the World Institute of Strategic Economic Research, found agriculture products, chemicals, petroleum and coal, processed foods and machinery rank among the state’s top exports. Products were principally shipped to Japan, Mexico, Chine, Canada and the Netherlands. Officials contend the declining value of the U.S.