Shipments from a US west coast terminal that handles almost 20 percent of the nation’s soybean meal exports have been curbed while damage from a crane collapse earlier this month is repaired, marking the latest setback to global trade flows.
A loading boom at farm cooperative Ag Processing Inc’s export facility in Aberdeen, Washington, fell on Sept. 1 as a bulk carrier was being loaded, said a person familiar with the matter and a shipping agent notice to customers seen by Bloomberg.
The damage could take months to repair, the notice said.
Photo: Reuters
Omaha, Nebraska-based Ag Processing declined to comment.
The disruption puts yet another kink in global supply chains, with the US still reeling from the export chaos caused by Hurricane Ida in the Gulf of Mexico, home of the US’ busiest agricultural port. The terminal in Grays Harbor handles the bulk of the US’ soy meal shipped to Asia from the west coast.
It is certain to put big importers such as the Philippines, which needs the product to feed livestock, in a bind just as soy processing slows in China as well.
Plants in a key region in China were ordered to shut down for at least a week as the Asian country contends with a severe energy crisis.
“The timing couldn’t have been worse,” said Jay O’Neil, proprietor of HJ O’Neil Commodity Consulting in Oregon. “This will dramatically impede US soybean meal exports.”
Soybean meal futures in Chicago have fallen 1.9 percent this month.
A ship waiting to load at Ag Processing’s facility when the crane collapse occurred was diverted to a grain terminal in Longview, Washington, operated by EGT LLC, the notice said.
The dock shutdown also affects exports of dried distillers grains, a byproduct of ethanol production that is a key ingredient in feed for beef cattle and dairy cows.
The US harvest season is beginning — a time when exports of soybeans and soy products typically increases.
AGP’s facility is especially important because soy meal is not as easily shipped from terminals focused on grains such as corn, as it flows differently and can cake up. The bulky commodity is also not meant to sit around.
“People hate to store meal,” O’Neil said. “It’s not something you can store for months.”
Other commodities:
‧Gold for December delivery rose US$1.90 to US$1,751.70 an ounce, posting a weekly increase of 0.02 percent.
‧Silver for December delivery fell US$0.25 to US$22.43 an ounce, up 0.4 percent from a week earlier, while December copper rose US$0.06 to US$4.29 a pound, rising 0.94 percent week-on-week.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,
RSS