Chicago | Reuters — Flooding and severe winter weather in the U.S. Midwest will reduce Archer Daniels Midland’s first-quarter operating profit by US$50 million to $60 million, the U.S. grains trader said on Monday. Record floods have devastated a wide swath of the farm belt across Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and several other states. The […] Read more

ADM says U.S. floods to cut into Q1 operating profit

Floods shut nearly a sixth of U.S. ethanol production
Mead, Neb./New York | Reuters — Massive flooding in the U.S. Midwest has knocked out roughly 13 per cent of the nation’s ethanol production capacity, as plants in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota have been forced to shut down or scale back production following the devastation. Production facilities owned by large companies like Archer Daniels […] Read more

U.S. Midwest’s catastrophic floods cause widespread damage
Brownville, Neb. | Reuters — Severe flooding caused by rainfall and melting snow devastated farms and towns in Nebraska and Iowa on Tuesday, leaving at least four people dead and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, with waters yet to crest in parts of the region for several days. The floods inundated stretches […] Read more

Feed weekly outlook: DDGS market to adjust with E15 move
MarketsFarm — The prospect of higher-ethanol gasoline blends year-round in the U.S., and a likely increase in production of the renewable fuel, would also result in more distillers dried grains (DDGS) looking for a home in global livestock feed channels. However, that won’t mean an oversupply of the ethanol byproduct, as feed markets will adjust, […] Read more

Trump’s EPA unveils plan to pump up ethanol as Big Oil cries foul
Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released its proposed rule lifting a summer ban on higher-ethanol blends of gasoline to help farmers, putting the agency on a collision course with Big Oil which has called the move illegal. The proposal to broaden sales of the so-called E15 rule marks the latest flashpoint […] Read more

U.S. EPA changed rules to help refiners get biofuel waivers, suit alleges
Reuters — U.S. environmental regulators quietly changed the way they assess applications from refineries for waivers from the nation’s biofuels law, making it possible for highly profitable plants to secure lucrative exemptions, according to court documents filed by a biofuels trade group on Thursday. The new documents, part of a lawsuit that began last year, […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans inch up on China purchases
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures inched upward on Thursday on news that Chinese state-owned firms bought at least 500,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans, while wheat futures dropped to their lowest levels in more than a year on pressure from a strengthening dollar, traders said. Chinese state-owned firms bought the U.S. soybeans for shipment […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soy, corn, wheat sag as trade news awaited
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures fell roughly one per cent on Wednesday and wheat slipped nearly three per cent on sluggish export demand for U.S. grains and a lack of news on U.S.-Chinese trade negotiations, traders said. “The single biggest potential factor right now that could turn these market dynamics is […] Read more

U.S. EPA sends proposed new E15 rule to White House
Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday it had sent a draft of its proposed rule allowing year-round sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline to the White House Office of Budget for review. The rule expanding sales of so-called E15 was promised by President Donald Trump late last year […] Read more

Beetles halt U.S. DDGs exports to Thailand
Chicago | Reuters — Exports of U.S. distillers’ dried grains to Thailand have stopped due to new fumigation requirements installed after beetles were discovered in a shipment last year, U.S. traders said on Friday. Thai government officials said U.S. shipments required certificates showing they had been “properly fumigated.” Traders said sales had effectively been halted […] Read more