Feed Group To Import Corn, Wheat, Meal

Southeastern feed buying consortium, Wilmington Bulk LLC, expects to close deals within a few days to import corn, feed wheat and soymeal from South America and Europe.

Wilmington Bulk President Jimmy Kissner told Reuters News Services recently that he had just placed bids to buy 200,000 metric tons of corn, 200,000 metric tons of feed wheat and 75,000 metric tons of soymeal. He added that he expected deals to be concluded in three to five "trading" days.

Kissner said the soymeal and corn would be sourced from Brazil and Argentina, respectively. He said the feed wheat would come from Europe, possibly from the United Kingdom.

"This is the first time we are looking to import corn," he said, citing "economic reasons" for the imports.

Wilmington Bulk has come under fire from U.S. farmers in the past for importing soymeal and feed wheat, but Kissner has maintained that high domestic freight costs were making U.S. supplies more costly than imports into the Southeast.

Kissner said Wilmington was also looking at the possibility of importing soybeans from Brazil, the world's second-largest producer and exporter after the United States.

Editors note: Richard Brock, The Corn and Soybean Digest's Marketing Editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.

To see more market perspectives, visit Brock's Web site at www.brockreport.com.