By: Isis Almeida and Kim Chipman
Bloomberg News
The deep freeze that has left almost five million Americans without power is snarling shipments of goods from corn to soybeans, shutting meat plants and curbing ethanol production.
Traders say it’s increasingly hard to move grain to ports in the Pacific Northwest, and ice warnings are restricting navigation on the Illinois River. Energy costs soared, prompting some ethanol and soybean processing plants to slow down, said the traders, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Cargill Inc. is curbing energy use while Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. slowed production at several locations due to gas shortages. Tyson Foods Inc. was among meat producers forced to shut plants in Texas.
The Arctic freeze gripping the central part of the U.S. comes just as China is loading up on American crops. The world’s largest commodities importer has already bought a record amount of corn, while soybean purchases are running at their fastest pace in three decades. Combined shipments of U.S. corn and soybeans climbed to a new peak in the fourth quarter, driven by China.