The Desert Harrier departed the TEMCO, 有限责任皇冠hga010安卓二维码, grain export terminal in Houston, 德州, for Nigeria on May 14, 2023. 这艘船看上去和其他驶进墨西哥湾的船没什么两样, but its cargo — more than 1 million bushels of hard red winter wheat and spring wheat — was special.
Terminal Manager Michael Bates says it was the first wheat shipment entirely sourced by CHS that was exported from the facility after it became the fourth terminal in the TEMCO family in early 2023. TEMCO is a joint venture between CHS and Cargill that also includes export facilities in Portland, 矿石., and Kalama and Tacoma, 洗.
该项目将为南部平原的农民和合作社提供服务, says Brian Schouvieller, who represents CHS on the TEMCO board of governors. 该地区生产的粮食自然流向德克萨斯海湾出口.
“The Houston port gives us an additional export corridor to handle grain from beginning to end without sending it through a third party. 这为农民保留了更多价值，”Schouvieller说.
TEMCO的四个出口设施是对位于路易斯安那州默特尔格罗夫的CHS出口终端的补充., and Superior, Wis., to provide efficient export options to benefit CHS owners and serve customers around the world.
“通过扩大我们的综合供应链和出口合作系统的机会, 我们改善农民的市场准入和机会, 这将增加通过德克萨斯海湾出口的符合赞助资格的蒲式耳的数量,” Schouvieller says. “Handling grain from the farm to the consumer through the cooperative system improves efficiency and quality control.”
| Houston, 德州 |
Kalama, 洗. |
Portland, 矿石. |
Tacoma, 洗. |
|
| Opened in | 1967 | 1962 | 1955 | 1975 |
| Joined TEMCO in | 2023 | 2012 | 2012 | 1992 |
| Primary products | 小麦, sorghum, corn, soybeans | 小麦, sorghum, soybeans, corn, peas | 小麦 | Soybean, corn |
| Top export destinations | North Africa, China, Mexico, South America | China, Southeast Asia, Central America, Middle East | Southeast Asia, Middle East, China | China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan |
| Storage capacity (in millions of bushels) |
6 | 6.5 | 1.3 | 3 |
| 粮食 loaded annually (in millions of bushels) |
140 | 250 | 35 | 200 |
| Loadout capacity (in bushels per hour) |
140,000 | 120,000 | 40,000 | 80,000 |
| Barges unloaded annually | N/A | 300 | 400 | N/A |
| Railcars unloaded annually | 40,000 | 62,000 | 600 | 52,000 |
| Shuttle trains unloaded annually | 480+ | 530+ | N/A |
N/A |
| Oceangoing vessels loaded annually | 100+ | 125+ | 40 | 100+ |
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 |
 |
 |
Options and opportunity
多种出口设施可减轻针对天气事件的风险, logistics problems, operational interruptions and market changes, says Brian Kubik, TEMCO general manager. Through the TEMCO joint venture, CHS是太平洋西北地区(PNW)向亚洲市场最大的谷物出口商之一.
TEMCO shipped more than 400 million bushels of grain from June 2022 through May 2023 and handles about one-third of the grain exported from the PNW.
With the addition of the Houston port, TEMCO is also the largest grain exporter in the 德州 Gulf. The facility has 6 million bushels of storage capacity and annually loads more than 140 million bushels on 100 to 120 vessels. 运往TEMCO所有地点的主要作物是小麦、大豆、高粱和玉米.
“休斯敦的扩建提供了更大的一篮子商品, hopefully making us a more attractive trade partner,” Kubik says.
Reaching new markets
Tens of millions of bushels of wheat and sorghum are produced in 德州, Oklahoma and 菅直人sas annually. 其中大部分谷物通过铁路和卡车运往休斯顿的TEMCO. 该设施的铁路调车场已经升级，每天可容纳350辆火车，卸下250辆汽车.
“在美国各地有四个出口码头.S. 通过TEMCO，我们有了更多的选择和更多的市场发现，”库比克补充道. “The shared supply chain made possible by the joint venture improves efficiency and reduces logistics costs, which benefits customers.”
这一增加的力量将促进对亚洲和非洲新兴市场的销售. 虽然进口量低于预期，但中国仍是美国原油的最大进口国.S. soybeans and sorghum.
目前的预测显示，中国将进口1亿吨大豆.4 million metric tons of coarse grain (mostly corn and sorghum) and 12 million metric tons of wheat during the 2023-2024 marketing year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.
Africa will likely become a key market for international trade and investment over the coming decades, according to the USDA. In a February 2023 report, the agency cited rapidly increasing population and urbanization and rising incomes on the continent, which are driving demand for meat, cereal grains and other foods.
“Having access to a consistent berth in the 德州 Gulf opens up new opportunities with customers in Morocco and other North African countries,” says Ryan Caffrey, who oversees the CHS wheat product line.
Trading up
Louis Deery, 他是纽约Star Trading皇冠hga010安卓二维码的首席小麦交易员, says he expects to buy more wheat from CHS, thanks to the additional access to southern U.S. bushels and the opportunity to work with one company that has multiple ports in the PNW and Gulf of Mexico.
The trader bought the wheat loaded into cargo holds of the Desert Harrier for Flour Mills of Nigeria, 它是该国最大的食品皇冠hga010安卓二维码之一，也是迪尔最大的客户. In June, he purchased 850,000 bushels of hard red winter wheat from CHS for Flour Mills of Nigeria. All of it was shipped through TEMCO in Houston.
“We have to time our shipments very carefully, so dealing with one supplier and having more shipping options improves efficiency and adds flexibility,” Deery says, noting if a storm were to damage one port, grain could be diverted and shipped from another. “我们对粮食质量也非常谨慎，CHS有非常好的(质量)记录.”
Deery通常每年从美国采购约1700万蒲式耳小麦.S. for Flour Mills of Nigeria. Deery补充说，CHS和嘉吉提供了蒲式耳的“最大份额”.
“Further integrating the supply chain is good, 因为它能让农民更接近消费者. That’s what consumers want,” he says. “尼日利亚的面粉厂是一个相当大的硬粒小麦消费者，CHS是一个大的硬粒生产商, 所以我认为(从休斯顿出发的额外TEMCO航运选择)应该会打开更多的硬膜贸易.”
Retaining value
Cooperative leaders in 菅直人sas are excited about the integrated export opportunities for grain and improved revenue potential that TEMCO and its Houston expansion offers. 他们认为农场主将在几个方面受益.
CHS and member cooperative Mid-菅直人sas Cooperative (MKC) expanded their grain marketing joint venture in April 2023 to maximize the value of an end-to-end cooperative supply chain in the Southern Plains. MKC总裁兼首席执行官Brad Stedman表示，TEMCO的扩建将优化双方的合作关系.
Based in Moundridge, 菅直人., MKC处理大约1亿蒲式耳的硬红冬小麦, sorghum, corn and soybeans each year. 小麦是该合作社最大的出口作物，每年出口约1500万至2000万蒲式耳.
In the past, 粮食通常卖给有出口能力的皇冠hga010安卓二维码, 所以这些收入在地方层面上并没有完全实现, says Stedman. But the dynamic has changed, he says, because MKC farmer-owners now have direct access to international buyers through the cooperative system.
“Those profits flow back through MKC, which then flow back to our 11,000 farmer-owners in the form of patronage, 股权赎回或新建资产，如穿梭列车装载设施,” he adds. “It’s going to enable us to move faster to reinvest in what is an aging infrastructure in this region.”
其中许多电梯都是在20世纪50年代和60年代建造的, he explains, when yields were less, and trucks and farms were smaller. 斯特德曼说:“农民有时比我们现在行动得更快。.
CHS and MKC are building a grain terminal with 5.2 million bushels of capacity near Sterling, 菅直人., which is scheduled to be operational in 2024. It will efficiently load shuttle trains, 就像米兰和广州的其他合资工厂一样, with combined storage of 18.1 million bushels.
Neil Johnke, CHS senior director of feed grains, 说有多个港口可以快速卸载穿梭列车, 卡车或驳船——在某些地方同时使用这三种工具——对粮食买卖双方来说是一种优势.
“For a 菅直人sas cooperative, if freight spreads tell us to take grain to either the PNW or the 德州 Gulf to make $2 more per ton, we can do that. 如果默特尔格罗夫的海运价差更便宜，我们就可以去那里，”约翰说. “这将使我们成为世界上首选的供应商之一. 农民将分享整个供应链的利润.”
Faster, stronger, better
Dale Schmidt recalls when the shuttle-loading facility jointly owned by MKC and CHS opened nearly 10 years ago in Canton, a few miles from his McPherson, 菅直人., farm. The basis for many commodities, particularly hard red winter wheat, narrowed about 10 cents or more per bushel. 他将这归因于运输成本的降低和终端用户需求的增强.
Schmidt will be watching for a similar effect once the Sterling shuttle loader is shipping grain to the Houston TEMCO terminal.
他表示:“当我们能够在基础上获利时，这才是真正的意义所在。. “At the end of the day, whether I get paid more for grain or patronage, I’m seeing value come back to me.”
施密特每年生产数十万蒲式耳的硬红冬小麦, corn and soybeans each year. 当价格有利时，高粱偶尔成为轮作作物的一部分.
The potential for higher commodity prices is intriguing, agrees grower Jason Gaeddert of Buhler, 菅直人., but he says he’s equally excited about investments in the integrated cooperative supply chain.
“卡车从油田到电梯再返回的转弯时间很重要，”Gaeddert说. “刷新资产或建立新资产有助于整个供应链. That brings value to the farmer.”
Added value
Jeff Boyd, Garden City Co-op CEO, 对CHS扩大出口机会和农民将获得的附加值感到兴奋吗.
The co-op, based in Garden City, 菅直人.该皇冠hga010安卓二维码正在建设其第一个全资拥有的穿梭装载机设施.堪萨斯州霍尔科姆(Holcomb)附近的库存量为100万蒲式耳. It co-owns another similar transloader operation.
The co-op typically exports 20 shuttle trains each of hard red winter wheat and sorghum per year, plus ships some soybeans, says Boyd. A 115- to 120-car train carries about 435,000 bushels of wheat or soybeans and 465,000 bushels of sorghum.
Boyd says the ability to quickly fill trains with commodities lets the co-op leverage its grain origination and merchandising teams to reach more markets. 随着休斯顿TEMCO的扩建，新的航天飞机装载机预计将于2024年5月开放, 他预计会有更多的粮食通过合作系统运输和销售.
“It allows us to control more of our own destiny,” says Boyd, who oversees 20 elevators in southwest 菅直人sas with a grain capacity of more than 37 million bushels.
这对花园城市合作社的1350名农场主来说意味着什么? Boyd and Mike Wisner, vice president of grain, hope the enhanced opportunities mean better grain prices and larger returns on investment for co-ops and their owners.
“More direct access to global markets will give us the ability to set our bids accordingly and hopefully improve margins,” Boyd says. “The benefit of the cooperative model is that profits are shared with farmers — and that money stays locally.”
