Top stories from 2019
World Grain’s review of 2019 includes significant expansion and consolidation initiatives in the U.S. milling industry, as well as the ongoing dispute between the United States and China on trade. African swine fever also played a major role in operations throughout the past year.
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Archer Daniels Midland Co. this past summer opened the largest U.S. mill ever built from the ground up. The mill, which is located in Mendota, Illinois, U.S., about 100 miles west of Chicago, Illinois, U.S., has 30,000 cwts of daily flour milling capacity. To read more click here.
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The ongoing trade battle between the United States and China proved pivotal to the grain industry throughout 2019. The two countries have been in a dispute since China raised import tariffs by 25% on U.S. soybeans in July 2018 in retaliation for U.S. duties on Chinese goods. In December, the two countries reached an agreement on the text of a phase one trade deal that will roll back tariffs and open the Chinese market to U.S. agricultural imports again. To read more click here.
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Bunge Ltd. in mid-August announced it is relocating its global headquarters from White Plains, New York, U.S., to St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Company’s chief executive officer said the move is key to aligning around a more efficient, streamlined global business structure. To read more click here.
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Archer Daniels Midland Co., Bunge, Cargill, COFCO International, Louis Dreyfus Co. and Glencore Agriculture, founding members of an industry-wide initiative to modernize global trade operations, have announced a new project name: Covantis. The initiative aims to bring efficiencies and cost savings to companies throughout the international supply chain. To read more click here.
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Archer Daniels Midland Co. in late April announced plans to close one of its two Minneapolis flour mills as well as its flour mill in Salina, Kansas, U.S. The announcements come several months after the company began production at its modernized flour mill in Oklahoma and a few months before commissioning a completely new flour mill in Illinois. To read more click here.
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African swine fever’s impact proved widespread and significant during 2019. In a mid-December report, Rabobank said it expects ASF to remain the dominant issue in global animal protein heading into 2020, with China the main focal point. To read more click here.
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GSI completed construction of its largest diameter bin to date for Red Wing Grain in Red Wing, Minnesota, U.S. The 156-foot diameter grain bin has storage capacity for 1.38 million bushels of corn. To read more click here.
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Ardent Mills LLC on May 10 announced plans to close four U.S. flour mills. The company said the closings reflected analysis of current and prospective flour demand and would enhance the company’s operating efficiency. With a combined daily milling capacity of 23,600 cwts, the mills are located in Macon, Georgia, U.S. (6,500 cwts); Rush City, Minnesota, U.S. (10,000 cwts); Loudonville, Ohio, U.S. (4,500 cwts) and Red Lion, Pennsylvania, U.S. (2,600 cwts). To read more click here.
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Miller Milling Co. in early December announced it is closing its flour mill in New Prague, Minnesota, U.S., at the end of 2019. The mill, with 18,000 cwts of daily flour milling capacity, is one of six operated by Miller Milling. The closing will reduce the company’s aggregate capacity to 88,000 cwts from 106,000, based on figures in Sosland Publishing Company’s 2020 Grain & Milling Annual. To read more click here.
The company a month earlier announced Takuya Mitani is taking on the role of chief executive officer and president of Miller Milling from retiring Jeffrey Thomas. To read more click here.
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Africa has been a fast-growing grain import market for more than a decade, and not just because its population is mushrooming. Take wheat, for example. While the population of Africa increased by 32% between the 2007-08 and the 2018-19 growing seasons, the continent’s wheat imports increased 68% over the same period, surging to 47 million tonnes from 27.3 million tonnes, according to figures supplied by Bunge. To read more click here.