World Grain - May 2021 - 16

NEWS REVIEW

Ag Partner's Royal location rebuild on schedule
ALBERT CITY, IOWA, US - Ag Partners' Royal, Iowa, US,
location rebuild is progressing since the demolition of its main
complex following an explosion that occurred in late August
2020.
As of April 14, the Royal location has had all structural concrete completed and all steel needed for towers, bridges, legs,
distributors, spouting, and conveyors are on site.
Crews have been working to meet the late summer deadline
by assembling equipment such as:
* Erecting towers needed to support catwalks and
conveyors
* Both overhead and pit conveyors
* Bridges and catwalks are in progress
* Preliminary electrical work
Next on the agenda is the arrival of steel for the new hopper

bins and material for the steel building over the dump pits.
All phases of the project are currently on track for pre-harvest completion.
The new structure will include four steel bins, two 15,000bushel-per-hour legs, two pits to the south of the complex
along with necessary towers and catwalks. The new design
will continue to provide fast unload times in the fall with a
capacity to unload grain at 60,000 bushels per hour between
the two southern unload pits and the northern high-speed pit.
Alceco, an Iowa cooperative, recently acquired full ownership of Ag Partners from Cargill. Ag Partners provides products, services and market access in the areas of grain, agronomy, feed and petroleum. The company's locations include
retail and wholesale agronomy outlets, grain/petroleum facilities and feed mills throughout Iowa.

CHS sustains $38.2 million loss in second quarter
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, US - CHS Inc. sustained a loss of
$38.2 million in the second quarter ended Feb. 28, as ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic-related impacts continued in the Energy
segment.
In the same quarter a year ago, CHS reported net income
of $125.4 million. For the six-month period, CHS posted net
income of $31.4 million, which compared with $303.3 million
in the same period a year earlier. Revenues for the first six
months of 2021 increased nearly 20% to $17 billion.
" I am encouraged by the resilience of our employees and
their commitment to owners in what continues to be a challenging operating environment, " said Jay Debertin, president and chief executive officer of CHS Inc.
" We are cautiously optimistic about the rollout of
COVID-19 vaccines and other progress being made in response to the pandemic in the US and around the world and
the potential impact on our domestic and global businesses. "

Significant year-over-year earnings increases in Ag and
Nitrogen Production segments and Corporate and Other businesses were offset primarily by ongoing COVID-19 pandemic-related impacts in Energy.
The Ag segment saw favorable weather and improved relations between the United States and foreign trade partners, including China, which increased volumes of grain and oilseed
commodities as well as feed and farm supplies. In addition,
there were higher margins for certain agricultural products,
including processing and food ingredients, which improved
because of soybean crush strength.
" As we look ahead to the second half of fiscal 2021, we
remain committed to protecting the financial health of CHS,
adding efficiency throughout our enterprise to benefit owners and customers, and caring for those who depend on us
as we continue creating connections to empower agriculture, "
Debertin said.

Viserion Grain to acquire 11 elevators from Zen-Noh
BOULDER, COLORADO, US - Viserion Grain, LLC, a
newly formed subsidiary of Viserion International Holdco,
LLC backed by Pinnacle Asset Management, LP, has entered
into an agreement to acquire 11 grain elevator facilities from
New Orleans, Louisiana, US-based Zen-Noh Grain Corp.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The 11 elevators being acquired are located across five
US states along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and have a
total storage capacity of approximately 25 million bushels.
The grain elevators are located in Huffman, Arkansas, US;
Osceola, Arkansas (Riverside and Landside), US; Helena,
Arkansas, US; McGregor, Iowa, US; Savanna, Illinois, US;
Shawneetown, Illinois, US; Lake Providence, Louisiana, US;
Lettsworth, Louisiana, US; Caruthersville, Missouri, US; and
Cottonwood Point, Missouri, US.
" These facilities located across major inland US waterways

are integral to expanding our agricultural trading platform and
grain handling capabilities, " said Aaron Wiegand, chief executive officer of Viserion International. " We believe that the
addition of these assets will accelerate our growth and provide
a strong foundation to market grain and oilseeds directly to
domestic customers and exporters. "
Jason M. Kellman, managing partner and chief investment
officer of Pinnacle, added, " These facilities fit squarely into
our growing physical commodities portfolio and expand our
ability to participate in the grain and oilseeds supply chain
directly. Moreover, we will leverage the strategic assets to
complement Viserion's domestic trading operations. We look
forward to working closely with Aaron and his dedicated team
of industry experts as we further strengthen our business. "
Both the Viserion/Zen-Noh and Bunge/Zen-Noh transactions are expected to close later this spring.

May 2021 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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World Grain - May 2021

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