Duluth Benefits from U.S. Wheat Export Surge

Sometimes it takes the "old media" a little time to catch up with the "new media". When the "old media" does catch up, the editors of Great Lakes-Seaway News feel that they should be congratulated.

As our regular readers will know, this news organization has been publishing articles relating to this year's surge in U.S. Great Lakes wheat exports since May. In fact, Great Lakes-Seaway News has published no less than four articles since that time about the U.S. wheat export boom that is currently being experienced at U.S. Great Lakes ports.

Those story lines are now starting to be picked up by our friends in the print and broadcast media of the Great Lakes and we are very happy to welcome them into the pool of journalists who are covering an important story about the farmers of the Great Lakes region and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway maritime industry's ability to help feed a hungry world.

And so it is that we congratulate the Duluth News Tribune, which has filed published an important story on the wheat export surge as it relates to the Port of Duluth, the Great Lakes' largest port. The story was filed by reporter Candace Renalls, who gets our kudos for getting a story about one of the successes of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway maritime industry into print. An excerpt follows:   

So far in the 2010 shipping season, grain shipments out of Duluth-Superior harbor are up 27 percent over the same period in 2009 and 67 percent over 2008, according to figures from the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

Still, it’s nothing to brag about, said Ron Johnson, the authority’s trade development specialist.

That’s about to change, however, as the port begins to benefit from the misfortunes of other major grain producers in the world.

“We’ve already seen a flurry of activity,” Johnson said, noting that some companies in the grain trade expect to have the busiest September and late autumn in four or five years.

That’s because Russia, a major player in the global grain market, has seen its wheat crop decimated this year by severe drought and wildfires.

Russia recently banned wheat exports and won’t honor existing contracts, opting to keep what grain it does have for its own needs.

“That’s pretty serious,” Johnson said. “That sent the market in another direction. Everybody is scrambling to replace 10 to 20 million tons of wheat.”

“A lot of the wheat out of Russia is high-quality spring wheat used for baking, and that’s what we ship out of here, from the Dakotas and Minnesota,” he said. “It’s a big plus for our region. And we have a good quality and quantity of crops this year.”

Other grain-producing countries affected by the drought, such as the Ukraine and Kazakhstan, may follow Russia’s lead and also stop grain exports. Closer to home, Canada’s grain exports are down after production dropped 21 percent because of excessive rainfall.

With a bountiful crop this year, United States wheat and other grains are suddenly in demand.

Big time.

And that means a boom for grain trade out of ports like Duluth-Superior.

“Normally Canadian lakers are booked to haul Canadian grain out of Thunder Bay,” said Adele Yorde, a Port Authority spokeswoman. “A lot of these ships were laid up, and now being called out to Duluth-Superior to bring grain out to transfer to saltwater ships.”

David Torgerson, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, already is seeing the impact. Some Middle Eastern countries that typically buy from Russia haveordered Minnesota grain in the last month. And they want it shipped as soon as possible.

“The trade is anticipating a real banner export year,” Torgerson said. The demand is so great, some doubt the United States can meet the demand in needed ships and facilities, he said.

Johnson agreed, saying, “We don’t have enough ships available to handle it.”

So ships are coming. Lots of them.

And in the Twin Ports, they’ll be loading up on grain grown in Minnesota and the Dakotas that will end up in Canada, Russia the Middle East and other countries hungry for grain.

The positive impact of the U.S. wheat export surge is likely to be strongly felt in Duluth so perhaps it's no surprise that the Duluth News Tribune carried the story. But this year's strong wheat traffic will also have a positive impact on Milwaukee, Chicago, Burns Harbor and even some Great Lakes ports further east. We'll be watching to see if the "old media" in those areas find the time and the column-inches to cover this international story developing in their own backyards.

While this is just one article about how the how the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway maritime industry provides an indispensable service not just to American farmers but to people across the world, it's important to commend our print colleagues for highlighting this important story.