AGP to expand US PNW agricultural export facility

Ag Processing Inc (AGP) will expand its Port of Grays Harbor export facility in Aberdeen, Washington, to increase storage and train unloading capacity.

Expansion of the facility in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, a key export point for U.S. grains, oilseeds and other agricultural products to Asia, was scheduled for completion in early 2012, AGP said in a release.

"This investment will allow AGP to provide grain, feed ingredients, and oilseeds along with our current range of processed products to our customers in Pacific Rim countries," CEO Marty Reagan said.

The expansion will add about 55,000 tons of storage space for bulk grains and animal feed ingredients such as distillers grains, gluten meal and beet pulp pellets, an AGP spokesman said. The existing facility currently does not have any storage but instead unloads trains directly onto ships.

The project will also increase rail unload capacity from 1,500 tons per hour currently. The facility's unload capacity target was not immediately available.

The United States is the world's largest exporter of corn, soybeans and wheat and the No. 3 exporter of soybean oil and meal. Exports of distillers grains, a byproduct of ethanol biofuel production, are rapidly growing.

AGP is the world's largest farmer-owned soybean processor, with nine soy processing plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Source: DTN/Progressive Farmer