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1. JBS profit falls 64%, Hormel’s dismal performance & Moody’s downgrades BRF!

2. Inflation forces half of Australians to buy less meat

3. Asia – US container shipping rates plunge 80%

Animal Feed & Nutrition Market News

ADM

ADM has launched a new direct-to-consumer (D2C) plant-based ingredient range, sourced sustainably from underrepresented farmers using better-for-the-planet practices. The range is intended to meet the growing demand for sustainably sourced ingredients and will be available to consumers online. ADM is a Chicago-based nutrition company.

The Andersons

The Andersons is expanding its Lordstown wholesale fertilizer distribution terminal in Ohio with a new 10,000-ton storage building and upgrades to the receiving system and loadout automation process. The expansion will increase dry bulk storage by 65%, to 25,500 tons, and improve uploading capacity to 500 tons per hour from 300 tons per hour. The upgrades will help the company better serve the northeast Ohio market for the next 25 years, according to Andy Spahr, vice president of wholesale for The Andersons.

Cargill

Cargill has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting cocoa communities in West Africa and addressing the issue of water scarcity on World Water Day. The company has made progress in its efforts to support communities in the region, which have been facing challenges such as high crop fertiliser costs and low prices for their harvests in recent years.

CHS

CHS Inc., the top agribusiness cooperative in the U.S., has named Sarah Bovim as its new vice president of government affairs. Bovim has more than 17 years of experience in government affairs and public policy, having previously held leadership roles in Whirlpool Corporation and Albertsons Companies.

Evonik

Evonik Industries AG and Farsoon have partnered to bring a new elastomer powder material called INFINAM TPC to the additive manufacturing market. The material was tested at Farsoon Americas Demo Center in Texas, and both companies contributed their expertise to ensure optimal mechanical properties and repeatable benchmark parts. The collaboration aims to expand the material library for additive manufacturing and enable customers to explore new applications and markets.

Viterra

Viterra had its most successful year in 2022, with a record EBITDA of $2.65 billion and revenue of $54 billion, a 21% and 35% increase respectively from the previous year. The company attributed this success to market conditions, record production in main export regions, and its acquisition of Gavilon. The significant rallies in core commodity prices, particularly for soybeans, wheat, feed grains, and vegetable oils also contributed to the increase in revenue.

Meat Market News

According to Defra statistics, sheep meat production in the UK reached 22,000 tonnes in February, up by 3% from the previous month and up 6% from February 2022. January’s production figure was also revised up to 21,500 tonnes.

Defra data shows that the number of clean pigs slaughtered in the UK in February was the lowest recorded monthly figure since May 2014. With only 762,000 head of clean pigs slaughtered, monthly throughputs are down 11% compared to last month and down 17% year on year. Pig meat production volumes have also declined, falling by 11% to 70,200 tonnes in February, and 21% year on year due to average carcase weights being 5kg lighter than last year. These figures support the industry’s claims of tight supplies of slaughter pigs.

A survey shows that 70% of Australians are buying different types of food due to the rising prices… Continue reading.

Meat Company News

Agrosuper

Fitch Ratings has stated that the recent case of avian influenza in Chile is manageable for Agrosuper S.A., but a prolonged suspension of exports could put pressure on the company’s costs and prices if chicken exports are redirected to the domestic market. The initial financial impact of the measures taken is limited, and a large part of Agrosuper’s chicken and turkey revenues come from local consumption. The chicken and turkey businesses represent 26% and 4%, respectively, of the consolidated revenues in 2021.

Charoen Pokhand

Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods), has exported its first frozen pasteurized liquid whole eggs to Japan, making it the first Thailand-based company to do so. The eggs were shipped from CP Foods’ Ban Na egg processing plant in Nakhon Nayok Province, Thailand. The company held a launching ceremony for the first shipment to Japan, which was approved due to CP Foods’ stringent production and quality control standards.

Copacol

The fertile soil in Cafelândia, West Paraná, enables effective use of cultivated areas, resulting in high productive performance at each harvest. The area has achieved good results of up to 300 bags per bushel through nutritional corrections of the soil and alternative winter coverings.

Perdue

Perdue Farms Inc. has agreed to pay $60.7 million to settle claims of conspiracy to suppress competition for labor and to lower workers’ wages at poultry processing plants and other facilities. The settlement comes after three years of litigation, with workers suing multiple poultry processors, including Perdue Farms, for violating the Sherman Act by conspiring to drive down hourly wages and salaries at poultry processing operations for over ten years.

RCL

RCL Foods, a South African food manufacturer, is accusing minority shareholder Breede Coalitions of abusing appraisal rights clauses under the Companies Act following RCL’s repurchase of R2.2 million worth of shares. The dispute arose after the company unwound its existing black economic transaction and repurchased shares. The conflict is seen by analysts as among the reasons for the company’s failure to declare a dividend for the interim period to December.

Smithfield

Smithfield Foods and its affiliate Cardinal Bio-Energy have presented a proposal to Northampton County Commissioners for two large swine gas projects in the county. The plan involves injecting the gas into the Transco Pipeline, which would transport it out of the state and into Virginia. However, the company declined to provide crucial details, including the location of the processing plant that would upgrade the swine gas for use in natural gas pipelines. The commissioners requested more information and have postponed making a decision until next month. The methane capture systems would be installed at two Smithfield-owned facilities, one on Spud’s Lane and the other on Barrow Road. The swine gas would be transported to the processing plant by truck before being injected into the Transco line.

Sysco

Sysco, a food distributor, has accused litigation funder, Burford Capital, of blocking the company from hiring new lawyers in price-fixing lawsuits. Burford is seeking to scuttle settlements in at least two of the lawsuits, in which Sysco accuses poultry processors and meatpackers of antitrust violations. Burford has also prevented Sysco from getting new lawyers, according to the company, and refused to sign off on a new fee arrangement for replacement lawyers.

Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods is investing US$70m in a new hatchery in southwest Arkansas.

Dairy Market News

Global milk production is expected to grow by 0.7% year-on-year in 2023, with the US, EU, and Brazil predicted to see increases in production, while New Zealand, Australia, and China may experience a decline. Demand is likely to remain sluggish due to a gloomy economic outlook, increasing inflation, and lower household consumption, which will cause prices to ease in the near to medium term. However, higher production costs and labour shortages may continue to limit production growth. The longer-term forecast remains uncertain.

Dairy Company News

Arla Foods

Arla Foods Ingredients’ Peptigen IF-3080, a protein hydrolysate for infant formula, has received final approval from the EU. The product is one of the few milk protein hydrolysates that was deemed safe and suitable for use in formulas and follow-on formulas in the EU, according to the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA). The inclusion of Peptigen IF-3080 in the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/7 is the final step required for it to be used in infant and follow-on formulas sold across the EU. Arla Foods Ingredients’ head of Paediatric Business Unit, Anders Steen Jørgensen, said the decision reflects the company’s commitment to safety and quality in infant nutrition.

Bega Cheese

Bega Cheese, an Australian dairy company, has introduced its first ever plant-based cheese alternative. The products are being manufactured at the company’s facility in Strathmerton, Victoria, and are available in sliced and shredded form. The company has already secured listings for its new products at Coles, one of Australia’s largest grocery store chains.

Dairy Farmers of America

Dairy Farmers of America, which is a cooperative owned and run by family farmers, has announced its financial results for the year ending on December 31, 2022. The cooperative recorded a net income of $107.9 million, and its net sales for the year were $24.5 billion, which is a 26.8% increase compared to the previous year. This increase is due to higher U.S. milk prices and product prices, with the average price paid to DFA’s farmer-owners being $25.53 per hundredweight in 2022, compared to $18.37 in 2021.

Fonterra

Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd reported a 50% increase in first-half profit on Thursday, boosted by higher dairy product prices and strong margins in its cheese and protein divisions. The company also raised its fiscal 2023 earnings forecast to between 55 NZ cents and 75 NZ cents per share, up from its previous forecast of 50 to 70 NZ cents per share. Shares of Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund jumped by as much as 9.8%.

FrieslandCampina

Jan Derck van Karnebeek, who has been with horticultural group GreenV since September 2022, has been named as the new CEO of Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. He will begin his new role on June 1, 2023.

Nestle

Nestle has revealed that 30% of its portfolio is deemed “healthy” according to the Health Star Rating system, while 35% is “unhealthy.” The remainder comes from products like pet food, infant formula, and medical nutrition, which weren’t included. Nestle’s findings demonstrate room for improvement as it strives to become a leading health and wellness food company. Food companies are under increasing pressure to create healthier products and be more transparent as obesity rates rise around the world. Nestle is among the few big food companies reporting on independent nutrition metrics.

Tillamook

Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) plans to open its first owned and operated manufacturing plant outside of Oregon in Decatur, Ill., in late 2024. The facility, which was previously owned by Prairie Farms, will be the cooperative’s only facility dedicated solely to ice cream production, and will manufacture Tillamook family-size ice cream and Tillamook foodservice ice cream. TCCA will spend the next 18 to 24 months updating the plant.

Seafood Market News

Nova Scotia, a province in Atlantic Canada, will not be issuing new options to lease netpen sites until it completes a classification system that ranks the most suitable areas for finfish aquaculture. The province’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister, Steve Craig, has committed to creating a system in which coastal areas are rated as green, yellow, or red based on their suitability for finfish aquaculture.

Seafood Company News

Cooke & Skretting

Aquaculture companies Cooke and Skretting are opposing a new bill in Maine that seeks to impose strict regulations on land-based aquaculture facilities. The proposed legislation includes provisions that require industrial recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) operations to not contribute to water or air quality degradation or increase carbon emissions in the state. It also aims to reduce the use of wild marine organisms for feed in such facilities. Cooke’s freshwater production manager, Greg Lambert, testified that the bill’s requirement to be free from any fishmeal is not currently achievable as it would require a significant increase in alternative protein production.

Mowi

Salmon farming company Mowi achieved record financial results in 2022, with concerns over cost inflation in the industry. The company has initiated another cost savings programme for 2023 and achieved €48m in annualised savings in 2022. Despite this, Mowi’s success was due to strong operational performance and good market conditions, with revenue the highest ever at €4,946m. Demand for salmon improved significantly due to the reopening of the foodservice segment and strong retail demand. Consumer Products also had its best year financially.

Shipping & Logistics Market News

The global cargo shipping market was valued at USD 15.25 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 5% from 2022-2028, according to a report published by UnivDatos Markets Insights. The analysis has been segmented into Cargo Type, End Users, and Region/Country. The report provides a detailed analysis of the latest industry developments, market drivers, restraints, and opportunities. It examines and estimates the cargo shipping market at the global and regional levels.

Shipping & Logistics Company News

AP Moller-Maersk

AP Moller-Maersk’s bunker supply arm, Maersk Oil Trading, has entered the jet fuel market as its parent company expands into aviation. Maersk Air Cargo launched its first operation between Denmark and Asia with three weekly flights scheduled. The move is a shift for Maersk Oil Trading, which normally secures bunker fuel for the Maersk boxship fleet. In a LinkedIn post, the company said that by offering a diverse range of fuel solutions, it is addressing the dynamic needs of the logistics industry.

Maersk has launched its first Maersk Air Cargo service with scheduled flights between Billund, Denmark, and Hangzhou, China, using three newly converted Boeing 767-300 freighters.

CHEP

CHEP has hired Paul Meates as Executive Creative Director, where he will lead the creative team in the Sydney office and be part of the national creative leadership team. Meates joins CHEP from Droga5 New York, where he spent a decade.

CMA CGM

CMA CGM is reportedly looking to charter four vessels to tap into the booming car-carrying trade, following the trend of container carriers seeking to benefit from high rates and profit margins in the market. Other players like HMM and Cosco are also said to be eyeing the market, along with traditional car-carrying operators who have been ordering new vessels to meet demand. Shipbroker Braemar predicts that demand for the 7,000-unit size pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) will continue to grow, but warns that electric SUVs, which are expected to make up 50% of cars carried at sea by 2030, are larger and heavier.

DB Schenker

DB Schenker has adopted Sensos’ “smart label” stickers, which incorporate GPS trackers thin enough to be used on pallets, gaylords and even individual cartons, with the trackers’ batteries just millimetres thick. The trackers can also alert customers if a package is tampered with during transport. However, success depends on industry-wide adoption and collaboration between providers, according to Reinier Danckaarts, head of development and innovation at Kuehne+Nagel, which offers similar technology.

Knight-Swift Transportation

Trucking company Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. is set to acquire U.S. Xpress Enterprises Inc. in a deal worth $808 million, with Knight-Swift paying $6.15 a share in cash for the acquisition. The deal will bolster the scale of one of the country’s largest trucking operators, increasing Knight-Swift’s fleet to about 25,000 trucks and adding about $2.2 billion in total operating revenue, including $1.8 billion in truckload revenue. Knight-Swift is already the largest operator in the trucking industry’s truckload sector.

Lineage Logistics

Lineage Logistics has opened a new Southern Europe headquarters in Madrid, Spain, which highlights the company’s continued investment in the region and creates stronger connections to its network of hubs in Northern Europe and beyond. The new headquarters will serve as a foundation for continued growth and was opened at an event attended by the Company’s Southern Europe Management team, as well as European and US executive leadership and board members from Lineage’s parent company, Bay Grove.

Ocean Network Express

Ocean Network Express (ONE) has launched a new service, SMM, from Singapore to Yangon, Myanmar. The service will combine the existing YGX and TMM services and will provide twice weekly coverage, allowing ONE’s customers to connect Yangon imports and exports via its transshipment hubs in Singapore to meet the growing demand. The port rotation of the weekly service will be Singapore-Yangon(MIP)-Singapore-Yangon(AWPT)-Singapore, with the first sailing scheduled to commence on 4 April from Singapore.

Schneider

Schneider National’s share price has risen 43% in the last three years, but this falls short of the market return. However, during this time, the company achieved compound earnings per share growth of 46% per year, which is higher than the average annual increase in the share price of 13%. The market has moderated its expectations for growth, which is reflected in the company’s fairly low P/E ratio of 10.26.

Source: essfeed.com