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International soy buyers watching river and rail challenges closely

Foreign buyers are acutely aware of the challenges U.S. exporters are facing.

U.S. Soybean Export Council CEO Jim Sutter says the low Mississippi River levels and potential railroad strike have been well publicized.

“And it’s a big deal. We’ve got water levels at some of the lowest levels in many years, so people are aware and they’re worried about it. And they are watching it very carefully.”

He tells Brownfield some customers are switching to non-traditional ports.

“I think the U.S. has a great benefit (because) it has all of these various places, various load ports, that international buyers can turn to. If there’s a problem in the Gulf, they can look at these other places to source their material from.”

Sutter says a rail strike would certainly disrupt soybean exports to China because the Chinese almost exclusively source out of the Pacific Northwest.