US Grain Shipments Through Great Lakes-Seaway Up 39%
U.S. grain shipments via the Great Lakes-Seaway system totaled 312,000 metric tons from March 22 to May 31, up 39% compared to the same period in 2021. Much of the increase is due to exports of corn and soybeans out of the Port of Toledo and some new trade starting at the port of Oswego this shipping season. The rise in shipments, which are predominantly heading to Europe and North Africa, are in part due to shifting global grain trading patterns as the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine — both major grain exporters — continues.“The Great Lakes-St.
Cargill to Build Grain Terminal in West Memphis
U.S. agribusiness Cargill Inc said it will build a grain handling facility in West Memphis, Arkansas, to purchase corn, sorghum, soybeans and wheat that the company could ship down the Mississippi River to U.S. Gulf Coast export terminals. Minneapolis-based Cargill, one of the world's largest private companies, said on Thursday it will invest $45 million in the terminal in West Memphis, located on the western bank of the Mississippi. The river is the main shipping route to the Gulf, where about 60 percent of all U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat exports exit the country. When completed, the elevator will be capable of loading up to eight barges daily and of holding up to five barges, Cargill said in a release that did not provide a timeline for the project.
Grain Company to Buy Canadian Crop Terminal
Canadian grain marketer CWB said on Monday it has agreed to buy Great Sandhills Terminal Ltd, a farmer-owned 20,000-tonne grain handling facility in Leader, Saskatchewan, for $16.3 million. The deal, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, is expected to close by Sept. 1. It also includes a majority stake in a short-line railway in Saskatchewan. CWB did not release further financial details. CWB, which was previously known as the Canadian Wheat Board, has made several deals to piece together a grain-handling network in the past year as it moves toward operating outside of government control. Ottawa stripped the board of its western wheat and barley marketing monopoly in 2012 and agreed to guarantee CWB's borrowings until it is sold or develops a plan to be self-sustaining by 2016.
