St. Louis is known for baseball, beer, blues music, and … soybeans, and is thus home to the U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange (GTE) & Specialty Grains Conference 2021 being organized by the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) in partnership with the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA).
St. Louis is also home to the region where three of the United States’ most important rivers for shipping meet: the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois rivers. Based on its location near the confluence of these three bodies of water, along with its transportation system leading Westward, St. Louis swiftly became known as the Gateway City as it bolstered American trade and commerce since its founding. That heritage continues today. In fact, the Port of Metropolitan St. Louis is the center of a 15-mile stretch along the Mississippi River, branded as the Ag Coast of America, that sees the highest volume moves of agricultural commodities in the country. At the port, 15 barge-transfer facilities can handle 150 barges a day – the highest anywhere along the Mississippi River.
Agriculture is marked as the number one industry supported by river facilities, with 80% of U.S. corn and soybean acres spanning a 500-mile radius of St. Louis. With that, it should be no surprise that the number one commodity moving through St. Louis is soybeans, according to 2017 data. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers notes that the port of St. Louis is served by six Class One railroads and seven interstates, making it a hot spot for convenient and strategic shipping throughout the United States and the world. For example, moving soybeans down the Mississippi provides an iceless and lock-free journey all the way down the Gulf of Mexico.
As such, the United Soybean Board, the U.S. Soybean Export Council and American Soybean Association are all headquartered in the Gateway City to keep a close pulse on all things U.S. Soy. Additionally, major soybean shippers and players such as Bunge, ADM, CGB, Louis Dreyfus, and the Bio-Research & Development Growth Park at the Danforth Plant Science Center all sit alongside the Ag Coast of America or in St. Louis.
Like the water, rail and roadways that meet in St. Louis, the U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange & Specialty Grains Conference provides a gateway for international buyers and suppliers to connect over U.S. Soy through education, fellowship, networking, business, and fun. Register now for the hybrid event, starting Tuesday, Aug. 24. If you can’t meet us next to the river in St. Louis, experience the gateway to U.S. Soy virtually: register here!
The U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange & Specialty Grains Conference is hosted by the U.S. Soybean Export Council in partnership with the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance, and is funded in part by U.S. soybean farmers and their checkoff.
