2024 Top 100 Importers & Exporters
Cropped out
Supply chain disruptions , carrier practices compromising US ag exports
By Bill Mongelluzzo
US agricultural exporters are navigating a multiyear decline in demand amid multiple supply chain constraints that are damaging the cost competitiveness of their products in overseas markets .
Drought-induced draft limitations at the Panama Canal that require vessels to sail lighter — i . e ., with less cargo — and diversion of vessels away from the Suez Canal to the much longer routing around the southern tip of Africa continue to compromise agricultural exports to Asia . At the
“ I have seen no significant progress on ERDs .”
same time , exporters say carrier practices around detention and demurrage billing and earliest return dates ( ERDs ) have not improved significantly following the passage of landmark regulatory reforms in 2022 .
Containerized US exports of agricultural goods totaled 1.5 million TEUs in 2023 , a 6.1 % year-over-year drop that brought the five-year compound annual growth rate down to negative 1.6 %, according to PIERS , a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global .
Outbound shipment volumes ticked up 1.3 % in the first two months of 2024 from the same 2023 period , but that growth may not be sustainable . According to a Feb . 28 forecast from the US Department of Agriculture ( USDA ), the
Ag exports struggling amid Suez , Panama canal restrictions
Monthly containerized US agricultural exports , in laden TEUs , with year-over-year percentage change
TEU volume
140,000 120,000 100,000 100,000 80,000
60,000
49,638 -10 -10 %
40,000 20,000
Source : PIERS , S & P Global
20 %
10 %
-40 0 % %
-20 %
0 -30%
Jan L 2022 Apr Jul Jul , 2022 Oct Jan 2023 Apr Jul Oct Jan 2024 TEU
Year-over-year % change
Year-over-year % change
© 2024 S & P Global
Agricultural products
EXPORTS
1,445,332 TEUS
↓6.1 %
Change from 2022
↓1.6 %
5-year compound annual growth rate Al Dahra ACX Inc . Almarai Anderson Hay & Grain Bayer CropScience CHS DeLong Fornazor International Gavilon Haykingdom International Feed Mountaire Farms NORAG
Northwest Grains International
Olam International POET Nutrition Scoular
Stone Arch Commodities
Tallgrass Commodities The Anderson ’ s Inc . Zen Trading total value of all agricultural commodities exports will fall 4.6 % in the fiscal year ending Sept . 30 .
The situations at the Suez and Panama canals have had — and will continue to have — a “ huge impact ” on all-water shipments from the US to Asian markets , said Hayden Swofford , independent administrator of the Pacific Northwest Asia Shippers Association , members of which include exporters of forest and wood products .
Mainland China remained the largest market for containerized agricultural exports last year , accounting for 20.9 % of the total , followed by Japan ( 10.7 %), Taiwan ( 9.8 %), South Korea ( 8.7 %) and Indonesia ( 6.5 %). USDA expects that trend to continue in fiscal 2024 , with China purchasing an estimated $ 28.7 billion in US agricultural commodities .
Mike Steenhoek , executive director of the Soybean Transportation Coalition , said if conditions at the canals do not change , soybean exporters located east of the Mississippi River that would normally send their goods through East and Gulf coast ports may divert some of those shipments to the West Coast via intermodal rail .
“ This is causing some exporters to enlarge their draw area further east beyond the Mississippi River ,” Steenhoek said . The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the busiest US gateways for containerized soybeans and processed products such as soybean meal , oil and bio-diesel fuel made from soybeans , he said .
Despite the continued heavy reliance on Asian markets , however , ports on the West Coast saw their share of US agricultural exports decline to 61.2 % last year from 64.6 % in 2022 and 73.1 % in 2018 , according to PIERS .
‘ Persistent and maddening ’
Unreasonable charges for the late return of empty containers , especially when shippers have trouble accessing terminals due to congestion or unexpected closures , has been a major thorn in the side of agricultural exporters for years , said Peter Friedmann , executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition .
46 Journal of Commerce | May 20 , 2024 www . joc . com