Bunge: A new kind of bean counting

It's all about the numbers at the new Bunge-SCF Marine terminal on the Mississippi River.

Barge loading speeds can hit 60,000 bushels an hour, which means it takes only 1.5 hours to load a barge. Bunge's dock will hold six barges, replacing 348 semi tractor loads off the highways. A full 15-barge tow is equal to 2,200 truck loads.

"These numbers matter when it comes to figuring out efficient transportation costs," Jason Cobard, Bunge NA Inc., explained during a group tour of congressional staff.

"You really have to see it on this end of the food chain to help drive home the importance of infrastructure and transportation."

The Bunge facility in St. Clair County is more than grain elevator that happens to be riverside, as the staff learned during the summer tour hosted by St. Louis Agribusiness Club.

This is a jointly owned facility with partner SCF Marine, also headquartered in St. Louis, on land leased from the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. Developed in 2012, it accepts grain and oilseed by truck, train and barge.

Its storage capacity isn't as large as other terminals because it's moving grain into the marketplace as quickly as possible. Grain storage is limited to two half-million bushel bins and two 50,000-bushel bins. Its dryer can handle 5,000 bushels an hour at 5 points moisture capacity.

Grain Terminal

Putting more momentum behind these numbers are the rates the elevator can receive grain: Two truck-receiving pits can take 30,000 bushels per hour pits and can handle 60 trucks an hour, and its rail receiving is capable of one car at 60,000 bushels per hour and is equal to 15 cars per hour.

But one of the most important numbers this global business tracks are equivalent transportation costs to China between the U.S. and Brazil.

The cost to move one ton of grain from Iowa to China figures in $8.38 for trucking, $25.51 on barges and $27.77 on shipping, and then comparing those costs for a ton from Brazil to China, Bunge pegs Brazils' trucking expense at $76.94 and shipping at $20.

Between the truck, barge and shipping costs, the U.S. cost is $61.66 per ton as opposed to $96.94 by Brazil.

"So it's really freight and infrastructure that drives the U.S. ag economy," Cobard said.

Two key partners — SCF Marine, an inland operator of SEACOR Holdings, and the TRRA allow Bunge to focus on delivery and speed.

"What's attractive to us is that TRRA is owned by all of the Class 1 railroads coming into St. Louis, so we can literally get a train here from anywhere," Cobard said. "St. Louis continues to become a real boom town in regards to agriculture exports."

And regarding SCF Marine, the site is a state-of-the-art facility from a loading and unloading perspective.

"We put a lot of grain on the water in a short amount of time. But what you're seeing in the U.S. is a big push to water and in St. Louis, in particular, with the river. St. Louis is a prime spot, and everyone is trying to capitalize on that," Cobard said.

A $10 million investment — Bunge has completed about $10 million in upgrades to its own sites, systems and equipment nationwide to maximize efficiency. The Fairmont City site receives about 100 trucks daily. Much of the improvement has included automation of the conveyors and safety alarms.

Cobard said the company has realized a 20 percent to 30 percent increase in capacity because of the improvements.

Eighty-five percent — This is the percentage of all grain and oilseed products that use inland waterways. That's $60 billion of business, Cobard said.

"That's why we support infrastructure," he said, added that Bunge prefers to see investment in building new projects instead of repairing old ones.

Source: AgriNews Publications