Exports
African Trade Exchange Highlights Growing Demand for U.S. Agricultural Products in the Region
Virtual meeting allowed sub-Saharan African customers of U.S. Soy to connect, learn from each other and facilitate trade opportunities.
Demand
Soybeans Rally on Pivot from Global Glut to Tightened Supplies
Spotlighting the global soybean complex and what’s happening in the United States, two soybean analysts breakdown the numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s October…
Economics
Market Intelligence Monthly – September 2020
For deeper analysis of soybean market developments during September, please enjoy U.S. Soy’s Market Intelligence Monthly report for September 2020.
Exports
U.S. Inland Waterways Contribute to Soybean Sustainability
Barges on U.S. inland waterways contribute to the sustainability of U.S. soybeans.
Economics
Market Intelligence Monthly – August 2020
USSEC and USB VP of Market Intelligence Mac Marshall takes a look back at August 2020 to determine market dynamics and trends for the soy…
Demand
WASDE Supply and Demand Update: September 2020
USSEC/USB Vice President – Market Intelligence Mac Marshall was joined by Nagaraj Meda, Managing Director at TransGraph Consulting and Kevin Roepke, USSEC Regional Director –…
Exports
Investments in Mississippi River Dredging Improve Export Efficiency
The soy checkoff is investing in the planning, design, and analysis to dredge the lower Mississippi River to improve soybean export efficiency and serve global…
Infrastructure
WASDE Supply and Demand Update: August 2020
Mac Marshall, United Soybean Board Vice President of Market Intelligence, provided his take on the August 2020 WASDE report.
Demand
Market Intelligence Monthly – July 2020
USB VP Mac Marshall provides a breakdown of the July 2020 WASDE.
Infrastructure
U.S. Soy Details Value Chain Resiliency during Ag Talks Iowa Town Hall
USSEC CEO Jim Sutter took part in a virtual AgTalks town hall on July 30. He described collaboration across the ag industry during the pandemic…
Infrastructure
Dredging Project Readies Mississippi River for Efficient Soy Transportation
United Soybean Board-funded research is used to inform a dredging project in the Mississippi River, which will improve freight-based transportation of soybeans and create a…
Infrastructure
Barge Market Update
The Inland Mississippi River System, an important aspect of the U.S. transportation system, helps to ensure the reliable supply of U.S. Soy.
Infrastructure
The Resilience of U.S. Soy Trade in Uncertain Times
The U.S. soy trade is resilient, says Eric Woodie, trade analyst for the Illinois Soybean Association, pointing to reliable supply and transportation.
Demand
Long-Term World Soybean Outlook
Doane recently updated the International Agriculture Outlook report, which includes ten-year forecasts of harvested area, yield, production, utilization, per capita consumption and net trade of…
Exports
Delivery Process Helps Get U.S. Soy to Buyers
This piece explains the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)’s delivery process.
Exports
Grains Go With The Flow: U.S. Inland Waterway System Operating Normally During COVID-19
The U.S. continues to ship agricultural commodities via waterways, including a reliable supply of soybeans, during the coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic.
Infrastructure
Pandemic Highlights Value of U.S. Soy
The U.S. remains the producer of a reliable supply of soybeans and soy products and maintains the advantages of U.S. soy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Demand
Parana River Levels Shifting Volumes to U.S.
Lower water levels along Argentina’s Parana River may limit that country’s exports and possibly boost U.S soybean sales.
Infrastructure
Why the Digital Divide Matters to All of Us, Right Now
Even for the most fortunate of us, the past few weeks have been a period of dramatic disruption. Like many, I am adjusting to new…
Exports
Railways Keep U.S. Grains Chugging Down the Track to Export Market
The U.S. continues to ship agricultural commodities via railways, including a reliable supply of soybeans and soy products, during the coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic.
Infrastructure
La Nina Increasing Transportation Challenges
Doane’s Alan Barrett examines how La Nina could potentially affect the U.S. soy industry this year.
Infrastructure
Flooding Concerns to Remain into Planting Season
U.S. soybean farmers deal with flooding each spring, primarily along the Red, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers.
Exports
U.S. Ag Exports Continue During Pandemic
The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has slowed many industries in recent months. But U.S. farmers continue to grow a reliable supply of agricultural commodities – including…
Infrastructure
Barge Industry Consolidation
As predicted last year, the oversupply of barges and higher operational costs are taking a toll on barge companies and have led to American Commercial…
Infrastructure
Despite IMO, Ocean Freight Rates to Remain Below $50 per Metric Ton
Lower barge and ocean freight rates could be beneficial to the U.S. soy industry.
Infrastructure
Improvements to Port Milwaukee Agricultural Maritime Export Facility Will Enhance U.S. Soy’s Reliable Supply
Improvements to the Port of Milwaukee will add to U.S. Soy’s reliable supply, benefitting customers.
Infrastructure
Upper Mississippi River Set to Open in March
With the near record low barge rates, the barge industry is looking for some good news. The rivergage forecast for Lock and Dam 15 (Rock…
Infrastructure
Soybean Barge Rates at Three- and Five-Year Averages
A drop in barge rates is advantageous for U.S. soybean farmers.
Infrastructure
Panama Canal Authority Announces Permanent Freshwater Surcharges
How important is the Panama Canal to U.S. Soy? The U.S. is an agricultural surplus country dependent on exports. The Inland Mississippi River System plays…
Infrastructure
Improvements to Illinois, Upper Mississippi Rivers will Benefit U.S. Soy
The inland Mississippi River system plays a major role in transporting U.S. grains and oilseeds, especially soybeans. The inland Mississippi River system is comprised of…
Exports
Argentina Halts New Export Licenses as Higher Taxes Loom
The Argentine government temporarily froze the registration of new grain and oilseed export licenses on February 26, potentially affecting U.S. and global soy supply chains.
Infrastructure
Brazil’s Minimum Freight Rates May be Ruled Unconstitutional
A possible truckers’ strike in Brazil could potentially affect the U.S. soy industry.
Infrastructure
Barge Industry Consolidation
Barge industry consolidation will affect the U.S. soy industry in 2020.
Exports
Paving of BR-163 Improves Brazil Northern Arc Ports
Improvements to Brazilian infrastructure could potentially affect the U.S. soy industry.
Infrastructure
Truck Rates Increasing After Long Fall
Truck capacity is booked either by spot market or through a contract rate. The spot rate is the market rate, while the contract rate is…
Infrastructure
U.S. Rivers and Ports Receive Large Increase in Funding
The Gulf of Mexico and coastal ports are the ultimate location for U.S. imports and exports, and so those locations will consume dredging dollars reserved…
Infrastructure
Olmsted Lock and Dam Plans Proceeding
Well-functioning waterways are crucial to U.S. infrastructure and the timely, reliable delivery of U.S. soybeans. For the Olmsted Lock and Dam project, the next steps…
Infrastructure
Rail Raised Tariffs
The theory often floated by opponents of investing in the Inland Mississippi River System is that barge volume can easily be shifted to rail. In…
Infrastructure
Secondary Rail Markets Increasing
Farmers in the Upper Plain states are dependent on rail service for soybean export shipments, as rail is the most efficient transportation mode in rural…
Infrastructure
Soybean Barge Rates at Three- and Five-Year Averages
Barge freight rates continue to remain near historic lows. [A detailed explanation of barge freight rate calculations is provided at the end of this article.]…
Infrastructure
Ocean Freight Rates to Remain Near $50 per Metric Ton
The U.S. is a soybean surplus country dependent on exports, particularly from the Center Gulf. Brazil’s soybean exports limits the United States’ ability to pass…
Infrastructure
Increase in Truck Capacity is Decreasing Truck Rates
In 2018, the impact of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate in tandem with a strong U.S. economy translated into a lack of truck capacity…
Infrastructure
Soybean Barge Movements Well Above 2019
Outside of a surging crude oil market, 2019 was a very tough year for the barge industry. Coal is the largest commodity in terms of…
Infrastructure
Canadian National Railway on Strike
Canada relies on its two main railways to move products from the Prairies to British Columbia. The Canadian National Railway (CN) Western Canadian Grain Report…
Infrastructure
Brazil Southern Ports Improving to Meet Northern Arc Challenge
The northern arc of ports is allowing Brazil to increase its grain export capacity without the traditional long delays in getting the grain to the…
Infrastructure
Port of Virginia Completes Renovation
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that nearly 16% of U.S. containerized grain exports move through the Port of Virginia. The two-year renovation and…
Infrastructure
Columbia Snake River System Closed at Bonneville
Bonneville Lock & Dam, built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was the first federal lock and dam on the Columbia Snake…
Infrastructure
USDA Quantifies Impact of Aging Inland Waterways Infrastructure
An important component of the U.S. Soy Advantage is its consistent supply. The U.S. supply chain is one of the most reliable in the world,…
Infrastructure
Soybean Barge Movements Slow
2019 has been a tough year for the barge industry and all producers of commodities that use the Inland Mississippi Waterways System. After Lock and…
Infrastructure
Barge Rates Muted
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), “the U.S. Inland Waterway System utilizes a percent of tariff system to establish…
Infrastructure
Truck Rates Declining in 2019
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Grain Transportation Report indicates trucking cost per ton is down almost 9%, which is a welcome change from the…
Infrastructure
Crop Barge Movements Not Shifting to Rail
Lock and Dam 27 at Granite City, Illinois is below where the Illinois River joins the Mississippi River but above St. Louis, Missouri. In addition…
Infrastructure
Ocean Bulk Fleet Expanding
Second quarter 2019 ocean freight rates for shipping bulk grains were lower than last year, but 4 percent higher than the first quarter. Despite the…
Infrastructure
River Conditions Continue to Challenge U.S. Soy Exports
According to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Center for Environmental Information, the first five months of 2019 saw the most precipitation since…
Infrastructure
Infrastructure Investment Helps Keep U.S. Soy Shipping Costs Down
Few public investments provide more economic development than a public port. For example, operating as the major grain logistics tenant at the Port of Greater…
Infrastructure
U.S. Soybean Container Exports Increasing
A major focus of U.S. ports is to increase the depth of the waterways to increase the size of container vessels that can call on…
Infrastructure
Crop Barge Movements Still Below Normal
After being closed from March 16 through June 20 due to flooding, Lock and Dam 15 at the Quad Cities on the upper Mississippi River…
Infrastructure
Brazil Rail Projects Impact Soybean Exports
On February 7, 2019, the Brazilian Supreme Court reinstated the National Land Transportation Agency’s (ANTT) authority to issue fines for anyone who does not pay…
Infrastructure
Panama Canal Authority Lowering Draft to 43 Feet
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced that effective May 28, the maximum authorized draft for vessels transiting the canal’s Neopanamax locks will be 43 feet…
Infrastructure
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Virginia Port Authority Deepening Waterways
In an ongoing effort to continually improve the U.S. transportation system, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Virginia Port Authority are proceeding with design…
Infrastructure
U.S. Flooding: Comparing 1993 to 2019
The 2019 flood conditions have been much worse than 1993, but because the levees have held up significantly better, the 2019 flood is not receiving…
Infrastructure
Argentina Labor Strike Shuts Key Port as Political Unrest Lingers
Labor unions in Argentina organized a 24-hour strike on Wednesday, May 29 that resulted in grounded flights, halted public transportation, limited hospitals to emergency care…
Infrastructure
Brazil Amps Up Logistics Plans
One could argue that China, India, and developing Asia (Asian Growth Center) would not have improved as much as they have without the natural resources…
Infrastructure
World Iron Ore Supply Issues Helping U.S. Farmers
The U.S. is a soybean surplus country that is dependent on exports. Due to Asia being an extremely long distance from the U.S., ocean freight…
Infrastructure
Western Canada Port Strike a Possibility
Will a port strike in Western Canada have a positive or negative impact on the U.S. market? Likely, a strike will not have much of…
Infrastructure
Mississippi River Flooding Impacts on Cash Basis is Currently Limited
The inland Mississippi River system plays a major role in transporting commodities, especially soybeans and corn. When comparing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Iowa…
Infrastructure
Upper Mississippi River Closing Extended as Flooding Continues
Farmers and merchandisers located in areas at flood levels that needed to market crops in March and April have been harmed by the limitations placed…
Infrastructure
Higher Truck Freight Rates in Brazil Spurring Investment
The Minimum Freight Rate Table (MFRT) established to end the Brazilian truckers’ strike in 2018 allows carriers to charge from 50 to 300 percent more…
Infrastructure
Truck Capacity Availability Improving in 2019
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) estimates the U.S. has approximately 3.5 million Class 8 trucks (semi tractor-trailers) operating with over 5.7 million commercial drivers. More…
Infrastructure
High Water Persists but Barge Rates Falling
The Mississippi River continues to have high water levels disrupting barge traffic. The opening of the upper Mississippi River for commercial traffic continues to be…
Infrastructure
Brazilian Government Supports Higher Freight Rates
With Brazilian corn and soybean crops’ estimated crop size continually increasing, the importance of the Minimum Freight Rate Table (MFRT) also continues to rise. In…
Infrastructure
Key Brazilian Bridge Collapses
A portion of a bridge over the Moju River in the state of Para, Brazil collapsed in early April when it was hit by a…
Infrastructure
High Water Limiting U.S. Agricultural Exports
The current flooding taking place in the upper Midwestern United States sheds light on the U.S. waterways system and the need for infrastructure investment. The…
Infrastructure
U.S. Soy Undergoes Sound, Proven, and Accountable Grading Process
Repeated quality and quantity assessments hold U.S. Soy to the highest standard of measurement. This video from the North Dakota Soybean Council details how stringent…
Infrastructure
Highway BR-163 in Northern Brazil Reopened; Issues Remain
Talk of improving Brazil’s highway system has long been a topic of interest as it would improve their competitiveness in the world market. Although the…
Infrastructure
Ocean Freight Rate Declines, Helping U.S. Farmers
As a soybean surplus country, exports are important to the U.S., making it critical that the country continues to improve its transportation system to accommodate…
Infrastructure
Harsh Winter Impacts Barge Rates and Basis Levels
When transportation infrastructure experiences issues, people pay attention. On a positive note, disruptions provide concrete demonstrations as to how the waterway system impacts farmers’ cash…
Infrastructure
Superior Logistics: U.S. Soy Industry Benefits from Olmsted Locks and Dam on Ohio River
In October 2018, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Louisville District opened the long-awaited Olmsted Locks and Dam on the Ohio River, a major river artery…
Infrastructure
A Localized Supply Chain in a Global Marketplace: Soybean Farmers Explore Innovative Option for Containerized Shipping on Inland Waterways
In the midst of a dynamic and uncertain global marketplace, it is incumbent upon soybean farmers to explore any innovation that offers the potential for…
Animal Feed
Who is U.S. Soy?
Soy is an important commodity. A source of protein, and oil, too. Most commonly an ingredient used in animal feed, salad dressing and thousands of…
Infrastructure
Railroads Essential to U.S. Soy Advantage
Consistent supply is crucial to international soy buyers, and U.S. Soy delivers. The U.S. relies on a strong infrastructure system, including railways to get U.S.…
Infrastructure
Bridging Supply and Demand: Soy Transportation Coalition Helps Farmers Move U.S. Soy Abroad
Mike Steenhoek is the executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, a farmer-funded, farmer-led initiative that works to promote a transportation system that is cost-effective,…
Infrastructure
U.S. Soy’s Transportation Costs: A Competitive Advantage
Thanks to our more efficient infrastructure of highways, rivers, rails and ports, it is far less expensive to ship soybeans from the United States than…
Infrastructure
Bridging Supply and Demand: Soy Transportation Coalition Helps Farmers Move U.S. Soy Abroad
Mike Steenhoek is the executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, a farmer-funded, farmer-led initiative that works to promote a transportation system that is cost-effective,…
Infrastructure
U.S. Infrastructure is a Smooth, Efficient, Operating System
Jay O’Neil is a senior agricultural economist and instructor with the International Grains Program (IGP) at Kansas State University. With 43 years of experience in…
Exports
Deep Dive: Global Infrastructure Comparison by the Numbers
Farm to Market Report Shares The U.S. Soy Transportation Advantage Because 60 percent of U.S. soy is exported abroad, efficient transportation plays a vital part…
Buyers
USDA Trade Policy Coordinator Emphasizes the Importance of Trade to the World Economy
In August 2017, Jason Hafemeister was acting deputy director for trade and foreign affairs with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). After meeting with international…
Infrastructure
ED ZANINELLI, President, Griffin Creek Consulting
Superior infrastructure and timely delivery make up one part of the U.S. Soy Advantage. Ed Zaninelli explains how the shipping industry helps the U.S. Soy…
Infrastructure
Grain Trains Get U.S. Soy to Markets Effectively and Efficiently
Reliability is an essential component of the U.S. Soy Advantage. Getting soybeans to market in a timely manner helps contribute to the reliability of U.S.…
Buyers
U.S. Transportation System: Delivering Quality Soy
U.S. Soy has a leg up on the competition because of our robust transportation infrastructure – and we can use that advantage to better meet…
Demand
U.S. Soybean Farmers Rely on Trade for Economic Stability
Jason Hafemeister, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Trade & Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), speaks about the importance of bringing…
Buyers
On-site at Puerto Progresso
On-site at Puerto Progresso, Merida – Yucatan Mexico, USSEC consultant Mark Anderson talks about the role that the reliable transportation of U.S. Soy plays in…
Buyers
You Want Quality When Buying U.S. Soybeans – USDA Ensures That’s Exactly What You Get
Byron Reilly, director of Departmental Initiatives and International Affairs within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), helps oversee the quality and sanitary attributes of…
Infrastructure
ERIC POWELL, Importance of Reliable Container Transportation and Reliable Infrastructure
Eric Powell, manager, intermodal and economic development, Indiana Railroad Company, spoke about the importance of reliable container transportation and a reliable infrastructure at the 2016…
Exports
Transportation: U.S. versus Brazil
How Brazil's infrastructure makes delivery costly and unsustainable