USA – Agribusiness giants CHS and Cargill have announced the intent to expand the scope of their joint venture, TEMCO, by adding the Cargill-owned export grain terminal in Houston, Texas.
The Houston terminal has a capacity of six million bushels of storage and is located approximately 40 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico via Galveston Bay.
It can simultaneously hold 350 rail cars and reportedly handles up to 250 million bushels annually.
The addition of the Houston terminal will expand the joint venture’s export capabilities, providing shipping access for grains, oilseeds, and byproducts through the port of Houston.
TEMCO, which has been in operation for the past 24 years, currently operates three facilities in the Pacific Northwest: Portland, Oregon; and Kalama and Tacoma, Washington, US.
The addition of the Texas grain terminal into the joint venture will expand TEMCO’s global grain market, enhance access for U.S. farmers, and help meet the increasing global need for food.
“We are pleased to continue to build upon our successful relationship with Cargill to expand the reach of TEMCO,” said John Griffith, Executive Vice President of CHS.
Mr. Griffith added that the move to add a Cargil-owned export terminal is in line with the joint’s purpose of creating connections to empower agriculture.
The proposed terminal also intends to provide options for area cooperatives and farmers to participate in the global marketplace.
“We are excited to provide additional market access and opportunities for our farmer customers and to better serve our global demand customers,” said Sheryl Wallace, president of North America Grain for Cargill.
Uralchem eyes Cargill’s assets in Russia
Meanwhile, Uralchem, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of nitrogen, potash and complex fertilizers, has revealed plans to purchase the Russian assets of Cargill together with those owned by Viterra.
Dmitry Konyaev, general director of Uralchem revealed his company intention in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Both companies plan to suspend operation on the Russian market in 2023, Konyaev said, adding that the takeover had been preliminarily approved by the Russian Agricultural Ministry. Cargill and Viterra grain export business largely overlaps with Uralchem’s fertilisers trade: the same port infrastructure is used for shipments and vessels of similar type used for transportation.
The Russian newspaper Kommersant, however, reported that both Cargill and Viterra denied plans of pulling out from the Russian market in 2023.
For instance, Cargill told the Agricultural Ministry it was working as usual, there were no plans to leave the country, and no negotiations on the sale of the assets were taking place. Nikolay Demyanov, Managing Director of Viterra Rus, also said that the company continues to export from Russia and does not intend to sell assets
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