Grain Companies' Profits Soar As Global Food Crisis Mounts

[underpants]

Source: Wall Street Journal

On Tuesday, grain-processing giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. said its fiscal third-quarter profits jumped 42%, including a sevenfold increase in net income in its unit that stores, transports and trades grains such as wheat and corn, as well as soybeans.

The crisis stems from a combination of heightened demand for food from fast-growing developing countries like China and India, low grain stockpiles caused by bad weather, rising fuel prices and the increasing amount of land used to grow crops for ethanol and other biofuels rather than food.

Food companies say they're not to blame for the soaring prices and are committed to working toward a solution. :grouphug: They say bigger profits can be used to develop new technologies that will ultimately help farmers improve productivity. Monsanto says it's designing improved genetically modified seeds that can squeeze even more yield from each acre of planted grain, while ADM says it's investing in tools that can mitigate supply disruptions. "Maybe the question should be not, 'Are you making money?' but, 'What are you doing with the money that you make?'" says Victoria Podesta, vice president of corporate communications at ADM.


Monsanto saw its profit in the latest quarter more than double. Rivals DuPont Co. and Syngenta AG recently raised their profit estimates. Deere posted a 55% rise in earnings in its latest quarter. Mosaic's third-quarter net income jumped about 12-fold.

ADM's major rivals are notching big profit gains, too. Closely held Cargill Inc.'s profits jumped 86% to $1 billion in the latest quarter. Bunge Ltd.'s earnings rose about 20-fold to $289 million. Bunge sells fertilizer in addition to processing and storing grains.




Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120949327146453423.html?mod=todays_us_nonsub_page_one

[tanyev]

1. Yeah, just like the oil companies have used their soaring profits

to build new refineries and develop new technologies.


Not.

[struggle4progress]

11. Bingo!

[4_TN_TITANS]

12. Nailed it.... n/t

[bluesmail]

2. ADM's The Price Fixers to the world

The fine that was levied on them some 30 years ago 'to deter' future price fixing must not have stuck.

[Lorien]

5. They and Monsanto have been working towards total control of world food

supplies. They aren't only controlling prices, but they are also controlling what they ALLOW us to grow and eat. Thousands of natural varieties of rice and corn are disappearing from the food chain, and being replaced by GMO frankenseeds which can only germinate if drenched in a special Monsanto chemical cocktail. The implications for the planet are staggering. Learn more here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNezTsrCY0Q

[truedelphi]

8. Everyone who has ever owned a birdie knows that Hartz Mountain

Kept a nutritious and delightfully variable product on the pet store shelves for decades.

You opened a box of HM seeds, and it smelled wonderful, a huge diverse mix of different things to picque your bird's appetite.

Then one of the big FOODIES bought HM out.

The first thing they did after acquiring HM was to DESTROY the seed bank HM had carefully maintained of heirloom seeds!!

[acmavm]

3. This is the worst kind of treason. Starving people, playing with the

food supply, all in the pursuit of the almighty dollar.

I won't say here what I believe should happen to people who do stuff like this. But it ain't pretty.

[Cal Carpenter]

4. Love the little group hug you threw in there

All the billionaires lovin' on each other to make sure they keep getting theirs while the rest of the world struggles with food shortages.

So happy for the parasitic multinationals. Too bad for the rest of us.

[underpants]

6. Weclome to DU

if'n I haven't before :hi:

[Cal Carpenter]

7. Thanks underpants

:hi:

[OneBlueSky]

9. real change will only come with the stringent re-regulation of corporations . . .

agricultural corporations, oil corporations, insurance corporations, and all the rest of the mega-corps that are systematically raping not only this country, but the entire planet . . . give them strict rules to play by, and if they don't comply, revoke their fucking charters . . .

[cliss]

10. Investors have found

a new Gold Mine. Forget real estate as an investment. Ignore precious metals, gold, silver, T Bills, the stock market, other investments.

COMMODITIES = enormous profit potential. That's what the "insider" trading sites are saying right now.

Apparently there is still a lot of mone which survived the banking crash. These people are pouring money into this niche. I can only see steadily rising prices on grains. Huge hoarding going on by middle people. They will all profit enormously in the next few months.