08/04/2013: Novozymes' new CEO takes office; export cargo report indicates good US corn quality; millers gather for the 2013 division meetings

Peder Holk Nielsen has taken over as president & CEO of Novozymes. Nielsen, who replaces Steen Riisgaard in a planned transition, vows to bring more innovation to the market faster.

“I am proud and honored to lead this great company forward,” says Peder Holk Nielsen. “Novozymes is in a very strong position, and we will continue with our overall strategy. Our success rests on our ability to bring new innovation to our customers, and our ability to find new ways biotechnology can help them improve their products and make more with less. A key focus for me will be to make sure we bring these innovations to the market even faster than we do today.” 

Nielsen, 56, has played a central role in the development of Novozymes in its current form. His 28-year career in Novozymes and Novo Industri/Novo Nordisk spans management positions across business development, research and development, quality management and sales and marketing. Up until his appointment as CEO, he served as executive vice president and head of enzyme business from 2007-2013.

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The U.S. Grains Council has released the second of its annual USGC Corn Export Cargo Quality Report. Despite the severe drought in 2012 that seriously reduced the projected size of the U.S. corn crop, testing indicated the 2012 crop was superior in quality across a number of key variables to the U.S. 2011 harvest, which was itself a high quality crop.

First released in May 2012, the Export Cargo Report provides the results of tests on corn samples collected during the U.S. government-licensed sampling and inspection process for U.S. corn export shipments. This year’s report indicates that export samples had a higher test weight, lower incidence of broken corn and foreign material (BCFM) and lower moisture as compared to the 2011/12 export samples. In chemical composition, the report observed higher protein levels and lower starch, with oil content also higher.

Continuing the comparison to the previous year’s report, the 2012/13 export samples showed fewer stress cracks and a lower average stress cracks index. In addition, this year’s corn samples have higher true density, a higher proportion of whole kernels and a higher percentage of horneous or hard endosperm, which are all favorable trends.

“To enhance the quality of information we provide to export customers about the quality of the U.S. corn supply, the Council in 2011 initiated a series of annual Corn Quality Reports,” said USGC chairman Don Fast. “These are developed in two parts. First, we publish a Harvest Quality Report that surveys U.S. corn quality at harvest as it enters the marketing system. Then a follow-up report in April, the Export Cargo Quality Report, looks at the quality of the corn crop as it is assembled for export early in the marketing year.”

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More than 180 millers, associate members and industry friends attended the NAMA 2013 Division Meetings at the Hammock Besch resort in Palm Coast, FL. James M. Meyer, NAMA chairman and president of Italgrani , USA, addressed the group. During his remarks, Meyer told the group that the depth of the topics covered in the meetings and the participation of NAMA members demonstrated the value of NAMA membership. He also spoke about recent changes in the industry. "We live in interesting times, these changes are coming about because of opportunities within the industry to innovate and deliver quality products to customers," he said. 

Read more and view speaker presentations here

Coquina Rocks on Hammock Beach, Palm Coast (Photo credit: google)

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Andritz Group buys majority share in Shanghai Shende Machinery

The Andritz Group has acquired an  80 percent share in the Shanghai Shende Machinery Co. Ltd.

Shanghai Shende Machinery Co. Ltd was established in 1992 in cooperation with Germany based Munch Group, and has since then  developed a good  position and excellent reputation in the Chinese marketplace as provider of cost effective feed and biomass technologies and solutions. 

During the recent years Shende has successfully developed a new technology business within the China and South East Asia bio-fuel sector, where the Shende pelleting technology and plant solutions has proved its performance and reliability. 

Shende  is today renowned for quality feed processing machines and feed plant solutions, as well as high quality pelletmill dies and other aftermarket products and services to feed plants and biomass pelleting plants.

The technologies, project design solutions, customer base and market segments of Shende are considered to be an excellent addition to the current business and growth strategy of Andritz Feed & Biofuel in China as well as other markets outside China.

Shende will be operated from the Shende plant  in Songjiang district Shanghai, and  will be managed by Mr Ren Shu and the team which during the last 20 years has built up the technology and market position of Shende. 

Shende product lines, project design and aftermarket offerings will be streamlined and marketed as separate brand relative to Andritz Feed & Biofuel brand product lines and services in the market.

Andritz and its very strong technology position in the global market, will in its ownership of Shende further enhance the development of Shende technologies and services to its customers, and make the investments needed to support  further growth of Shende in the China domestic market as well as export business. 

Andritz Feed & Biofuel operates in China under Andritz China Ltd. with manufacturing plant in Sanshui, Guangdong  Province  together with  project engineering and sales  offices located in Liyang City, Jiangsu Province. 

Shanghai Shende Machinery Co. Ltd, and Andritz (China) Ltd. look forward to providing the very best technologies, equipment and services not only to all markets but now to all market segments in China and abroad.

More information... 

                

              

05/04/13: Food safety in South East Asia; damaged feed and digestibility; CME grain trading hours cut

Food safety and traceability are becoming as important as quality and price in South East Asia, according to one of the region's biggest flour milling organisations. In an interview with ABC Rural, Alex Lee Kim Teck, CEO, Interflour, Malaysia describes the growing focus on a transparent supply chain.

Listen to the interview...

Storing and protecting feed properly is essential for any successful farm. If not stored properly, the quality can deteriorate rapidly. This article looks at the effects of heat damaged sunflower meal and cotton seed meal on amino acid digestibility in pigs.

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CME, the owner of world's largest grain trading market, will cut its grain trading hours next week in response to customer demands. From next week, electronic trading will be reduced from 21 to 17 hours a day from 5 p.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday to Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Buyers had complained that long trading hours reduced liquidity and weakened enthusiasm.

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Grain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

04/04/2013: Van Aarsen International appoints new director of sales; FFI tools; export cargo report indicates good US corn quality

Van Aarsen in Panheel has appointed Hans van der Weijden as their new sales director. Van Aarsen is internationally active as a specialist in the compound feed industry and has a vast amount of knowledge and experience in the design and construction of animal feed production systems comprising a high quality and innovative assortment of machinery.

Prior to his new appointment, Hans van der Weijden has had diverse commercial and technical functions in other branches and shall now concentrate his efforts on the international growth of Van Aarsen.

One of the first advocacy pieces that the Flour Fortification Initiative (FFI) network of partners created was a Flour Millers Tool Kit. The original piece, created in 2006, has been updated and is available on the FFI website.

The revised tool kit includes sample charts, illustrations, photos from various partners and video links. It has recently been demonstrated in meetings in Ethiopia and Kosovo, and it can serve as a manual for flour millers. It can also be used to help public and civic sector partners understand what is expected of flour millers as they fortify flour.

Jeff Gwirtz, one of the authors of the original Tool Kit, led the updating process. Jeff is an adjunct professor in the Department of Grain Science and Industry at Kansas State University and is a technical advisor for the International Association of Operative Millers and FFI. He has a doctorate in grain science from Kansas State University, and he has worked in flour milling and food technology.

The Tool Kit can be downloaded in its entirety here or in individual sections as linked to the headings in the table below. The Tool Kit is in a Powerpoint format. Using it in “normal” view lets you move through the Tool Kit one page at a time and read the additional notes at the bottom of each slide. Viewing the Tool Kit as a slide show allows you to follow links to the six sections and follow links to specific topics from each section’s table of contents.

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The U.S. Grains Council released the second of its annual USGC Corn Export Cargo Quality Report (Export Cargo Report) today. Despite the severe drought in 2012 that seriously reduced the projected size of the U.S. corn crop, testing indicated the 2012 crop was superior in quality across a number of key variables to the U.S, 2011 harvest, which was itself a high quality crop.

First released in May 2012, the Export Cargo Report provides the results of tests on corn samples collected during the U.S. government-licensed sampling and inspection process for U.S. corn export shipments. This year's report indicates that export samples had a higher test weight, lower incidence of broken corn and foreign material (BCFM) and lower moisture compared to the 2011/2012 export samples. In chemical composition, the report observed higher protein levels and lower starch, with oil content also higher.

Continuing the comparison to the previous year's report, the 2012/13 export samples showed fewer stress cracks and a lower average stress cracks index. In addition, this year's corn samples have higher true density, a higher proportion of whole kernels and a higher percentage  of horneous or hard endosperm, which are all favourable trends. The mycotoxin testing results showed a lower percentage of samples containing aflatoxins in levels greater than or equal to 5.0 parts per billion (ppb) and a lower percentage of samples containing deoxynivalenol/vomitoxin (DON) in levels greater than or equal to 0.5ppm. All samples tested below or equal to the FDA action level of 20 ppb for aflatoxins and the FDA advisory level of 5 ppm for DON.

“To enhance the quality of information we provide to export customers about the quality of the U.S. corn supply, the Council in 2011 initiated a series of annual Corn Quality Reports,” said USGC Chairman Don Fast. “These are developed in two parts. First, we publish a Harvest Quality Report that surveys U.S. corn quality at harvest as it enters the marketing system. Then a follow-up report in April, the Export Cargo Quality Report, looks at the quality of the corn crop as it is assembled for export early in the marketing year.”

“These two reports provide a systematic annual look at the quality of the U.S. corn crop, using reliable data and a transparent, consistent methodology each year. We have established processes for sample collection and testing, and as we follow those processes year after year we will assemble a reliable and comparable database of transparent, objective information about U.S. corn quality.”

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Event: IDMA 2013

We're at IDMA!

Two of the Grain and Feed Milling Technology magazine team are in Turkey for IDMA Istanbul. If you're at the show, come along and see us in hall 11, stand A-19. We're here for the next 4 days!

More information about IDMA

We're at IDMA!

03/04/2013: CPF increases investment in Philippines; Vietnamese feed manufacturers struggle against foreign firms; Cargill appoints new CFO

Thai agribusiness giant Charoen Pokphand Group CPF is looking to ramp up the businesses in the Philippines with plans to invest P7 billion (USD$171 million) over the coming three years. The investment will go into the areas of expanding the company's livestock and aquaculture business in the country. With the company viewing the Philippines as an important growth area for CPF’s business interests.

The company which currently runs livestock, poultry and feed milling businesses in the country will put the funds towards its broiler, layer and swine operations in Pampanga, along with boosting its shrimp hatcheries and fish culture operations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. 

CFPF currently operate an old feed mill it acquired in Brgy. Panginay, Guiguinto, Bulacan. The production at the mill is only around 18-24,000 metric tons of feeds per annum, which consists of starter/grower/and finisher feeds for pigs and poultry.

The company has a new 60,000 metric tonnes per annum feed mill scheduled to open this month. Located in Samal, Bataan, the feed mill will produce fish and shrimp feeds for local fishpond operators and owners.

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Small scale Vietnamese feed manufacturers are finding it increasingly difficult to compete in a market which has seen the growth and expansion of several large foriegn feed firms in the country.

Last year, 40 out of the 243 Vietnamese feed manufacturers were forced to close their doors, and the number of local manufacturers ceasing operations is expected to continue, commented Le Ba Lich, chairman of the Vietnam Feed Association (VFA). He added that it was expected that approximately 70 other small businesses were on the verge of closing down and forfeiting their market share to the foreign manufacturers.

Many of the small scale feed producers that had capacities of less than 10,000 tons a year have had to either shut down or reduce production due to fierce competition in Vietnam's feed industry. A large number of these companies were located in Dong Nai or Binh Duong, the region considered the southern hubs of the animal feed making industry in Vietnam.

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Cargill announced on April 1 that former Sara Lee executive, Marcel Smits, is its new chief financial officer CFO, effective April 15. 

“Marcel Smits is a terrific addition to the Cargill leadership team. His global experience in financial management and the food industry will be a tremendous asset to the company,” said Greg Page, Cargill chairman and chief executive officer.

Smits, a native of the Netherlands, served in a variety of financial management positions for Unilever in Europe, Latin America and Asia throughout the mid-1980s and 1990s, lastly as senior vice-president of finance for China.

Cargill’s CFO position was vacated in November 2012 when Sergio Rial left the company to return to his native Brazil. David MacLennan, Cargill president and chief operating officer had added the duties of interim CFO to his responsibilities up until now.

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Small scale Vietnamese manufacturers are finding it increasingly difficult to compete in feed market 

02/04/2013: Victoria's largest feed mill prepares to open in June; Shakespeare the grain hoarder

A AUD$15 million stock feed production facility is being built in Lang Lang using state of the art technology with the aim to fast-track Victorian-based Irwin Stockfeed's national expansion.

Research and planning for the feed mill was started in 2008, with the actual construction of the 65th feed mill beginning in 2012. The feed production facility is expected to be completely operational by June this year.

Set to be the most modern facility in southern Australia, Peter Lowry, sales manager for Irwin Stock feed, said the company were preparing to enter a major growth phase.

"Currently the business is at full capacity and the only way to go is to grow," said Lowry. 

"The vision was that this site was pinpointed as a major growth area for the company."

The expansion will allow the company to develop its products from ruminant feeds including grain, grain mixes, protein meals and pellets to include more specialised products to suit farm production needs.

"It will enable us to expand our customer base and we will also be able to tap into contract milling for other companies," Lowry added.

It is expected that 30-40 jobs will be created as a result of the expansion, with hopes that the increased productivity will expand on to the national milling market.

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William Shakespeare wrote "to thine own self be true" - and for him that apparently included dodging taxes and hoarding grain.

Research shows that Shakespeare wasn't just a celebrated playwright and actor, he was a ruthless businessman who dabbled in money-lending and grew wealthy during a famine by price-gouging hungry neighbours.

This side of the merchant has gradually been whitewashed from history by complicit biographers who prefer to focus on his artistic achievements, say researchers from Aberystwyth University in Wales.

"Shakespeare the grain-hoarder has been redacted from history so that Shakespeare the creative genius could be born," says the academic paper due to be delivered at the Hay literary festival in Wales in May. 

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A AUD$15 million stock feed production facility located at Lang Lang, is being built using state of the art technology

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