GLEADELL NEWS
Gleadell Agriculture’s fertiliser imports
continue as the MV Jupiter Bright unloads 24,623 mt of granular
Urea at the company’s Immingham dockside agri-bulk facility.
 “This
is one of the largest fertiliser ships ever to come into the UK
and continues our import programme to satisfy strong UK demand,”
said Calum Findlay, Gleadell’s fertiliser trader. 
“The UK market is now reliant to some extent on imported product
and, with the cereal and oilseed rape acreage likely to remain high
this autumn, our import programme complements our domestic business
and gives our farmer and trade customers very high quality product
for immediate delivery,” he added.
VOLATILE OILSEED RAPE MARKET DRIVES NEXT SEASON’S
VARIETY CHOICE
The volatility in the oilseeds sector is quite incredible.
Global shortages and growing food and fuel-related demand has driven
stocks to dangerously low levels and this, combined with the influence
of a massive influx of fund money into the commodity sector, has
added to a market where the only thing we can be sure of is that
huge volatility is here to stay.
 “In
a market like this, it is more important then ever for oilseed rape
growers to make the correct variety choice to maximise returns from
their crop,” advised Stuart Shand, Gleadell’s sales
director. “We would recommend growers to go for Epure, which
is the the highest-yielding conventional OSR variety across the
UK. Or, to take the approach that has driven average German and
French oilseed rape yields above ours, and look at the top-yielding
hybrid varieties such as Flash and Excalibur”
“We are joint agents for Epure which is, quite
simply, the highest yielding conventional oilseed rape variety currently
available to UK growers. The variety’s combination of very
high seed yield and excellent oil content gives it a very high gross
output potential. Also Epure is easy to manage with good disease
resistance and very stiff straw.”
“For growers wanting a hybrid, Flash is the
hybrid with the highest yield - 3% above all other UK oilseed rape
varieties and 4% above the next best proven hybrid Excalibur. Flash
and Excalibur demonstrate all the benefits of hybrid vigour showing
a clear advantage over conventional types,” Mr Shand concluded.
GLEADELL AGRICULTURE ARRIVES IN THE SOUTH
Gleadell Agriculture, the third largest grain merchanting
company in the UK, have opened a new trading office in the south
of England, making the company a national player in terms of grain
procurement and distribution of inputs.
“Our new office in Wiltshire will procure grain from
the whole arable area of southern
England, from Kent to the west coast. “ It will supply consumers
across the region , many of whom we already have a trading relationship
with – either through our Organic trading business or because they
have plants in other parts of the UK ,” announced David Sheppard,
Gleadell's managing director, at the opening of the new office.
“Gleadell offers a secure and attractive trading partner for
farmers and end consumers in the region.”
“We have grown our business significantly over
the last three years, with more domestic grain business and arable
inputs supply, while remaining a major UK shipper of grain. We opened
our office in the Midlands in time for harvest 2005, and now have
the southern office near Salisbury with a strong team including
farm traders who are well-established in the region.
“The grain trade is still very much a people
business, and our team will be focused on supplying local consumers,
and bringing their long-standing relationships with farmers in the
region to Gleadell,” Mr Sheppard added.
PICK ON PULSE POSITIVES THIS SPRING SAYS TRADER
If you are thinking about growing pulses this spring,
think about the positives says Ian Skinn, pulses trader with Gleadell
Agriculture. The market for good Human Consumption types is there,
it is constant, and it requires continued supply.
 “Contracts
for new crop are being offered at a minimum £30 over feed
and, with the prospects of plantings being lower than last year,
feed values should revert to a normal spread of £20 over feed
wheat,” Mr Skinn pointed out. “This means Human Consumption
type values could be £50 over feed wheat as a starting point.”
“When you add in the agronomics of a crop that
has very low input costs, is generally easy to combine and is very
capable of withstanding wet harvesting conditions, the possible
future for pulses is more secure than it appears at first glance,
but it needs continuity of supply. ” Mr Skinn added.
UREA IMPORTS CONTINUE AS SUPPLIES REMAIN SCARCE
Gleadell Agriculture’s fertiliser imports continue
as MV Letoon unloads 7,000 mt of granular Urea from Alexandria Fertiliser
at the company’s Immingham dockside agri-bulk facility.
“This is our second vessel of granular Urea
this season and we have product to offer in bulk or in bags for
December/January at a time when supplies are scarce, “said
Calum Findlay, Gleadell’s fertiliser trader (pictured here).
“Some have questioned the rapid pace of price increase in
the Nitrogen market, but demand still continues to outstrip availability
and prices have continued to firm.”
Mr Findlay pointed out that most of the Egyptian granular
Urea becoming available is destined for Europe as the US remains
unable to compete. Egypt can continue to rely on the European market
well in to January/February, leaving less options for the US who
still have volumes to buy.
“The US market has yet to come to terms that
there is price competition for a limited product, and this lack
of product could lead to a further price explosion as we enter Spring
2008,” he warned.
NEW IMMINGHAM GRAIN STORE GIVES EXPORT BOOST TO THE
REGION’S FARMERS
Gleadell Agriculture managers, Mark Voase (L) and
Owen Hughes (R), celebrate the opening of the company’s new
store at Immingham, located at the the heart of the region’s
grain-producing farmland.
“The new £3.26 million store can hold
some 25,000 tonnes of grain and will give farmers in the region
a full drying facility at an end user destination without the need
for their capital commitment,” announced David Sheppard, Gleadell’s
managing director. “The mobile shiploader at the facility
can handle 1,200 tonnes of grain per hour – giving us the
capacity to load in excess of 250 wagons of UK grain for export
in a typical loading day.”
“Our Immingham facility handles wheat, barley,
oilseed rape and pulses from the region’s farms – all
destined for customers in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Scandinavia,
Ireland and destinations outside the EU,” Mr Sheppard added.
MAJOR NEW FACILITY BOOSTS GLEADELL IMMINGHAM
BUSINESS
Gleadell Agriculture have opened a new store at Immingham,
the UK’s largest port by tonnage, strategically located to
give access to the increasingly important European markets, and
at the heart of the UK’s grain-producing farmland.
“The new £3.26 million store is designed
for both import and export cargoes and will be able to dry and condition
grain, and to ventilate imported product, to ensure quality is maintained,”
announced David Sheppard, Gleadell’s managing director. “It
will give farmers a full drying facility at an end user destination
- cutting both cost and carbon emissions – without the need
for their capital commitment.”
“During the 25 years of our relationship with
ABP (Associated British Ports) and their ports of Immingham and
Grimsby we have exported over 12 million tonnes of grain. In the
last few years, our business has diversified with the import of
grain and fertilisers being an increasing part of our business whilst
exports have continued to expand.”
“When full, the facility has the capacity to
store some 25,000 tonnes of grain and features a state-of-the-art,
fully mobile shiploader capable of handling 1,200 tonnes of grain
per hour. We will handle a range of export cargoes – including
wheat, barley, oilseed rape and pulses – destined for customers
in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Scandinavia, Ireland and
destinations outside the EU ” Mr Sheppard added.
EAST ANGLIAN GRAIN MERCHANTS MOVE TO ECO-FRIENDLY
OFFICES
Gleadell Agriculture have moved to new offices at
the Ecotech Centre in Swaffham. The move places them within the
UK’s largest timber-framed building and the site is powered
by the UK’s first multi-megawatt wind turbine. This all combines
to create a very energy efficient site.
 “We
moved to these offices in July to be ready for the busy harvest
period,” says the company’s East Anglia regional manager
Trevor Gates. “With an increasingly competitive trading marketplace,
it is very important to have a productive working environment and
these new eco-friendly offices provide a much better workplace than
our old site.”
“We have settled in now, and the team are looking
forward to the future. We are far more comfortable here and there
is plenty of room within the new premises for our business to expand
in the future” added Mr Gates.
NON-DEFAULT CONTRACTS BRING GOOD NEWS FOR MALTING
BARLEY GROWERS
Prices for malting barley have risen out of the doldrums
in the last two years and grain merchants Gleadell anticipate an
increase in the planted area of spring barley across the UK of between
5% and 10% in 2008. But with contracts increasingly agreed on a
fixed price basis, growers need to be more careful than ever about
what they sign up to, and how much of their crop they commit to
a particular agreement, warns Stuart Shand, Gleadell Agriculture’s
sales director.
While the world shortage of malting barley has brought
renewed vigour to the market, some UK farmers have missed out after
a season in which many of them have faced defaults from buyers over
quantity and quality. For a crop with a relatively high risk attached
to growing compared with wheat and oilseed rape, it is essential
that more attention is paid to contracts that ensure this is allowed
for, Mr Shand believes.
Gleadell have developed and offered malting barley
growers a new contract with increased transparency, which mitigates
some of the losses faced by farmers from crop failure in the field,
a risk that is underlined by increasingly unpredictable weather
patterns.
“We call the contract non-defaultable because
it gives growers the comfort of knowing they can sow and harvest
without undue worry about quantity or quality at harvest,”
says Mr Shand. “If it comes off the field with too high nitrogen
or screening levels, or looses its germination before harvesting,
we will not default. And as long as the farmer has been sensible
not to commit too high a level of tonnage, he will not be at risk
on that either. Obviously, if the crop has been stored, tested and
has met all the specs stated by the contract, and then it dies in
the barn or becomes infested or unfit for malting, we will look
at recouping our losses. But for most malting barley growers who
have invested in proper storage facilities, the main risks lie while
the crop is in the field.”
Above all, Mr Shand urged producers to take more care
to read contracts and understand the requirements they are entering
into. “The malting industry is very flexible, and it will
try and meet the farmer’s needs and listen to his concerns
- the uncertainty of supply in recent years is in no-one’s
interest whether, it be farmer, maltster or brewer. Talk the contract
through, choose a contract that is achievable to you, don’t
just go for a big headline price, and be a little more cautious
about how much you commit to.”
Gleadell moves south for national arable coverage
Gleadell Agriculture's decision to open an office
in Southern England will make it a national player in terms of grain
procurement and inputs distribution. ASI spoke to managing director
David Sheppard to discuss the company's latest investments, its
strategy for the future and the rapid changes within the arable
markets.
ASI: The Gleadell business has moved on from a
largely export focus
David Sheppard (DS): We have grown the business
significantly over the last three years, with more domestic grain
business and arable inputs supply, while remaining a major UK shipper
of grain.
We opened a farm procurement office in the Midlands, based near
Melton Mowbray, in time for harvest 2005 and now have a southern
office near Salisbury which starts trading in January. It will consist
of two well-established regional farm traders, a local trader and
an assistant, a malting barley specialist, a forwarder and two trainees.
They will all be focused on supplying local consumers, and bring
their long-standing relationships with farmers in the region to
Gleadell.
Interestingly, we were approached by employees of existing businesses
to start a new venture. I think that demonstrates that our reputation
is spreading - I doubt that they would have been so aware of the
company even three or four years ago, but they all knew about Gleadell,
and wanted to work for it.
ASI: So what makes Gleadell so attractive?
DS: There are a number of factors. We are very
secure financially, through our world-class shareholders Toepfer
and Union InVivo. Financial stability is vital in the volatile markets
we are experiencing. With markets changing so rapidly, traders must
have the capacity to trade all the available markets, including
futures and exports as well as the normal domestic outlets. However,
the size of margin calls at current crop values means that some
companies cannot afford to trade futures, which severely limits
their ability to manage risk — they are effectively working
with one hand tied behind their back. Secondly, we are very well
connected to the global market through our shareholders, and we
offer an efficient and effective service. So, farmers know that
that are going to get good market advice, a quality service and
will get paid for their grain, while on the other hand, consumers
can rely on our deliveries, and again can trust our market advice.
Gleadell's growth across the board is helping to attract more farmer
suppliers. This is underpinned by our successful pools - the harvest
pool beat most competitors by £15-£25/tonne this year.
Farmers notice these results.
ASI: What is the plan for the Southern office?
DS: It will procure grain from the whole arable
area of southern England, from Kent to the west coast. It will supply
the flour mills in Southampton and Avonmouth, and the feed mills
in the South West. We already have a profile in the region through
our organic cereals trading. We buy organic grain from southwest
growers — Gleadell is the biggest supplier of organic grain
nationwide — and we will build relationships with smaller
feed mills and integrated poultry businesses in the region. Since
we have access to storage and haulage, the Southern office is really
building on existing relationships, rather than starting from scratch.
For farmers Gleadell offers a secure and attractive trading partner
and the quality of our personnel demonstrates our intention to be
the best partner for farmers and end consumers in the future.
ASI: and exports?
DS: On the Eastern side of this region, our shareholders
are already buying significant volumes of grain from the Kent ports.
Southampton is an important outlet for wheat and malting barley,
now that there are no local maltings. As Toepfer is one of the largest
global traders of malting barley, we can find markets for local
malting quality crops that can't be hauled economically to East
Anglia or Burton-upon-Trent. Exports will be an important part of
the new office's business through a number of port terminals. Gleadell
has a long history of working well with Associated British Ports
(ABP) and other port operators too.
ASI: And you have a new port store at Immingham_
DS: We have just commissioned our new port store
at Immingham, on the same berth as our existing shiploader. The
store has a capacity of at least 25,000 tonnes, in four quarters.
The whole floor is aerated, with two quarters having drying facilities.
The first vessel is expected to offload there in the New Year, with
exports from the store starting from January.
The store is designed to take in ex-combine grain and condition
it, drawing supplies from mid-Yorkshire to South Lincolnshire and
across to the Midlands.
ASI: How do these investments fit within the Gleadell
growth strategy?
DS: Organic growth underpins our philosophy. Gleadell
continues to be offered other merchant businesses, but we are more
interested in attracting more business and building volumes through
doing what we do very well. We already have successful farm trading
teams in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, the Midlands and East Anglia and
we have no reason to believe that our model won't be just as successful
in the South.
Our growth is a natural progression, at a pace that we can handle.
The alternative, having to integrate different cultures and ways
of working, can be very disruptive to everyday trading activities.
We are currently handling in excess of one and a half million tonnes
of grain a year. With the Southern office up and running, I am confident
that Gleadell will be well placed to be able to trade approaching
two million tonnes of crop annually. We have invested in the systems,
particularly in IT, which are scalable to allow this rate of growth
and in ensuring that the back office can administer the additional
volumes.
Last harvest was a severe test for most IT trading systems, with
almost every crop commodity becoming available at the same time,
and farmers demanding the collection of feed cereals, milling wheats,
malting barleys and oilseeds, when haulage was very short. And yet
this company moved 250,000 tonnes of grain in August alone. We couldn't
have done that without excellent logistics, good relationships with
haulers and a back office system able to keep track of and manage
all these collections and deliveries. It takes some organisation.
ASI: Turning to the inputs side of your business.
DS: We have enjoyed significant growth in our fertiliser
and seed business in the year to June 2007.
We are an agent for Yara fertilisers in the UK and for the last
year have also been distributing imported AN and urea product sourced
through Toepfer. This has made a huge difference, and saw us double
our fertiliser volumes to around 100,000 tonnes last season. It
also means that we have product to sell in a largely starved market.
Toepfer's strategic planning means that it has product in the right
places and quantities.
We all know that fertiliser is essential to underpin crop yield
potential. Despite its current price, fertiliser is a highly cost
effective input, especially with cereal prices where they are. There
is still a lot of fertiliser to be sold for the 2008 crop, although
product availability is a serious issue. UK farmers can't expect
special treatment in a world market. Like farmers, fertiliser manufacturers
have endured a very difficult decade, and it is only natural for
them to sell their product into the best available market. UK fertiliser
prices are determined by the global supply and demand balance for
the product. In a world of international manufacturers, product
will naturally find its way to the markets prepared to pay the best
price. The bigger global grain crop forecast will makes supplies
even tighter.
Gleadell is unique as an importer of fertiliser with its own retail
arm. Most significant importers in to the UK have to sell through
other merchant businesses. Our strength is the flexibility to sell
wholesale or through our own farm traders. We have long term agreements
with several ports to access product, our own portside stores, and
good local networks with farmers and other merchant distributors
to get the product delivered to farm efficiently.
I think there is scope to grow our fertiliser business strongly.
Our product sales are some way behind the amount needed to reflect
the volume of grain that we buy, so I am confident that there is
potential to double our fertiliser sales again.
Our seed business works on a different model. Without our own seed
plant, we buy product from four or five different seed processors.
As we don't have to grow our own seed crops, we can select those
varieties that we believe are best suited for our farmers, both
agronomically and in terms of end use markets. Therefore we sell
what we believe best suits the farmer, branded as Gleadell seed,
with much of the business underpinned through buy-back contracts
for milling wheat, malting barley and pulses.
We will be more involved in oilseed rape seed in future. InVivo
has a 50% share in the LSPB plant breeding business launched in
the UK last year . Gleadell will be involved marketing its varieties
to UK farmers. Since the UK lags France in getting the best out
of oilseed crops, there will be a real benefit for UK farmers, just
as French varieties helped establish the crop in the UK during the
1970s and 80s.
ASI: A move into agchems would complete your arable
inputs offer_?
DS: I wouldn't rule out an involvement in this sector.
It is the one part of the arable inputs supply business where we
are not represented. InVivo is the biggest agrochemical distributor
in France, so we have access to the products and the expertise,
and could become a serious UK presence if the right opportunity
came up.
ASI: Turning to the grain market, will the UK have
the crop volumes to export in the future?
DS: The forecast reduction in export volumes depends
on an active bioethanol industry, but it is difficult to see the
refinery capacities envisaged actually being built with a tighter
credit market and higher crop feedstock values. The larger company
projects that don't have to borrow the money have a greater chance
of proceeding, but only if the figures stack up. We designed our
new Immingham port store with one eye on the need to import greater
volumes of feedstock should these projects get commissioned. The
important thing is to be flexible. A decade ago, Gleadell mainly
exported feed wheat, barley and some oilseed rape. Now we ship out
a wider range of quality crops and are importing maize, fertilisers,
organic grains and milling wheat, a much wider range of commodities.
Markets are much more fluid now and we fully expect, just as in
this season, to be exporting and importing during the same trading
season.
Biofuels are certainly contributing to market volatility. This year
we have an export surplus of 1 million tonnes, moving to perhaps
3m tonnes in 2008/09 before any UK bioethanol intakes are operational,
to perhaps a market balance in 2009/10 when they are.
We have seen unprecedented crop price movements in the UK. Feed
wheat has traded within a £110/tonne price range this year,
2008/09 prices have already moved by £60/tonne and oilseed
rape by even more in the last twelve months. If merchants are finding
the volatility difficult to deal with, how confusing is it for the
farmer? Access to credible market information is the best way to
deal with such changes — Toepfer's local presence in the grain
producing regions of the world gives us a better feel for what is
actually happening in these markets.
It is difficult to run a UK-centred business without a very good
idea of what is happening in the EU and in the global markets, and
having some representation where these decisions are made. Without
the wider view, it is very hard to plan ahead. We are not trading
sentiment, but market fundamentals.
ASI: Have contract defaults been a significant
problem with these massive movements?
DS: We have taken a pragmatic view over those farmers
facing problems. It is not in our interests to severely financially
harm farmer customers, and we want to maintain trading relationships.
With our secure financial background, we are able to afford to help
farmer customers by spreading the cost of any shortfall over more
than one trading year. It is hard to blame farmers for failing to
forecast that wheat prices would double, but where merchants have
traded on back-to-back contracts, the potential losses are significant.
We have all learnt about contracts this year — systems will
be tighter in 2008! Equally, it must be remembered that there will
be times when the trade is moving contracts that are £100
above the market!
What disputes there have been this year are this year largely stem
from those suppliers who are not prepared to be reasonable with
us. We are not looking for fights. But it is only a small proportion
of farmers not behaving honourably.
ASI: Do you think farmers and buyers are adapting
to the new market reality?
DS: There is no doubt that farmers and consumers
became a bit complacent over the relative stability of UK crop markets
over recent decades, bar the odd shock in 2001 and 2003. Maximum
market movements of £10/tonne over a marketing year are straightforward
to work with, but changes nearer £100/tonne are of a different
magnitude to buyers. I think some consumers also thought that higher
UK prices would depress exports this season and to an extent they
have, leaving more grain on the domestic market, but much of the
export business had been agreed forward and had to be executed for
other non-market reasons. It is noticeable that more consumers —
both national and local — want to discuss market analysis
and future buying strategies with merchants. Their priorities have
changed to limiting risk exposure and securing supplies in this
uncharted environment.
I believe we are seeing a move away from the traditional age of
confrontation between farmer and merchant and merchant and consumer,
in favour of trading partnerships. Of course merchants need to make
a margin, but it is no longer a matter of buying cheap and selling
dear. The merchant offer comprises a range of services including
good market information, logistics, collection and delivery as the
farmer and consumer wants, with secure and timely payment.
ASI: So, to use the current buzzword, tighter supply
chains_
DS: The Warburtons and Sainsbury deals with co-operatives
make a big splash, but much of this type of work is already going
on in the trade. Gleadell has agreements with national and local
millers and maltings drawing supplies from local farmers, which
in some cases have run for many years. Like much of the trade, we
were astonished at the EFFP/Centaur Grain Against The Grain report
that accused the whole sector of being inefficient. Certainly Gleadell
is efficient and profitable and is actively encouraging farmers
to grow for local markets, so reducing haulage costs and ensuring
that local consumers get what they want. All of this is shortening
supply chains. We are actually getting on with it, rather than writing
reports or dressing it up as news. There is simply not the margin
in this job to allow inefficiency.
ASI: Some of these companies argue that central
stores are necessary to deliver the volumes the consumer wants_
DS: Equally, one could argue that most central
stores are located in the middle of the country, are expensive to
buy space in, and need the grain to be hauled in and hauled out
for delivery. Our Immingham store, in contrast, costs the farmer
nothing to 'buy space in' and there are straightforward charges
for drying and storage .It also only involves one haul before the
crop is put on a boat. Farmers can have their grain dried and conditioned
with no capital investment, while releasing their on-farm stores
for other income-generating use.
Of course central storage has a place in the market, but it won't
suit everyone — even the NFU president has allegedly invested
significantly in his own on-farm grain store! Gleadell can straddle
this debate, as an independent business half owned by a co-operative
and able to take a balanced view. Our InVivo shareholding makes
Gleadell increasingly attractive to some in the farmer-controlled
sector as a suitable trading partner and we are in discussions with
several players in this sector to work more closely both on inputs
and grain marketing.
ASI: And, to conclude, Gleadell is now effectively
a national business?
DS: Well, we are certainly getting there. We have no plans
to trade in Scotland or Wales, but a Southern presence was the opportunity
we were looking for to cover the England arable area. We have successfully
established the company in the East Anglia and Midlands regions
using local traders to build a business with farmers and consumers
in the area. It hasn't happened overnight - it has taken two years
to build significant volume through the Midlands office. I am confident
we can achieve a similar success in the South. We will not be trying
to buy our way into the market, but establish a long-term presence
through offering a credible service. The grain trade is still very
much a people business, and we can achieve high tonnages traded
per head through productive traders.
The above is an extract from ASI Magazine which has
been published with their permission.
MAJOR NEW FACILITY BOOSTS GLEADELL IMMINGHAM BUSINESS
 Gleadell
have opened a new store at Immingham, the UK’s largest port
by tonnage, strategically located to give access to the increasingly
important European markets, and at the heart of the UK’s grain-producing
farmland.
“The new £3.26 million store is designed for both import
and export cargoes and will be able to dry and condition grain,
and to ventilate imported product, to ensure quality is maintained,”
announced David Sheppard, Gleadell’s managing director. “It
will give farmers a full drying facility at an end user destination
- cutting both cost and carbon emissions – without the need
for their capital commitment.”
“During the 25 years of our relationship with ABP (Associated
British Ports) and their ports of Immingham and Grimsby we have
exported over 12 million tonnes of grain. In the last few years,
our business has diversified with the import of grain and fertilisers
being an increasing part of our business whilst exports have continued
to expand.”
“When full, the facility has the capacity to store some 25,000
tonnes of grain and features a state-of-the-art, fully mobile shiploader
capable of handling 1,200 tonnes of grain per hour. We will handle
a range of export cargoes – including wheat, barley, oilseed
rape and pulses – destined for customers in the Mediterranean,
Northern Europe, Scandinavia ,Ireland and destinations outside the
EU ” Mr Sheppard added.
HARVEST POOL RESULTS
This season has seen a more than doubling of the price
of wheat in approximately six months. Lack of rain, followed by
too much rain caused European wheat yields to fall below trend and
across eastern Europe extremely hot temperatures decimated crops
too. In the light of these facts and the market information we received
from around the world from our shareholders, we left the bulk of
the selling of the pool until we either needed to secure the right
destination or simply had to move the grain. In their own right
farmers have understandably, given the poor prices available in
recent years, been keen sellers of wheat from below £80 ex
farm all the way up to today’s price of £150+. In this
context the Gleadell harvest wheat pool has performed excellently
in returning a base price of £118.04 after commission.
Premiums returned for all grades of biscuit and bread making wheat
are again at the high end of what has been available in the open
market.
We believe this result will outperform most pools
and most individual farmers’ selling averages and it reinforces
the fact that a good pool should form an important part of most
farmers’ marketing strategy.
Pool results – Harvest 2007
Base feed wheat £118.04
Average feed wheat £119.54
Highest feed wheat £124.46
Breadmaking wheat £124.46 – £140.04
Our 2008 Pool is now open and we expect uptake to
be brisk. Please contact your Gleadell Farm Trader to book your
tonnage.
TWENTIETH WHEAT SHIP OF NEW SEASON LEAVES IMMINGHAM
AS EXPORT SUCCESS CONTINUES
Gleadell Agriculture’s 2007-8 export
programme is already well under way as 7,500mt of 2007 harvest wheat
bound for Spain is loaded onto MV CARLA at the company’s Immingham
facility.
 “This
is the twentieth ship we have loaded this season as our 2007-8 export
programme follows on from 2006-7 with hardly a pause for breath,”
commented David Sheppard, the company’s managing director.
“This excellent start to the season underlines the strength
of demand for UK wheat, barley, oilseed rape and other commodities
from customers in the EU and beyond.”
Gleadell exported over 550,000mt of farmer customers’ grain
from Immingham and other east coast ports by the close of the 2006/7
season, including over 100,000mt from East Anglian ports. This tonnage
accounted for around 25% of the UK’s exportable surplus and
was made up of six different specifications of wheat, malting and
feed barley, oilseed rape, and a substantially increased tonnage
of pulses.
“Our export programme saw UK grains sold to a wide geographical
spread of countries, from major Mediterranean customers such as
Spain, Portugal and Italy, to Germany, Belgium, Ireland and Scandinavia.
And despite the challenges of this growing season and, whilst acknowledging
that the 2007 wheat crop looks to be smaller than in 2006, we have
good demand for our grain in what is a buoyant and extremely volatile
market “ Mr Sheppard added.
GRANULAR UREA SHIP AT IMMINGHAM
 The
first urea boat to the UK this season unloads at Gleadell’s
Immingham facility as the MV Espada brings in 9,400 tonnes of granular
urea from Alexandria Fertilisers in Egypt.
“Some of the fertiliser has already gone direct
to farm in bulk or in bags,” said Calum Findlay, Gleadell’s
fertiliser trader. “The balance has gone into our storage
facility, giving our farmer customers a post-harvest delivery option.”
Our close supply links with Alexandria Fertilisers
means we can continue to deliver a granular urea product that has
become a recognised quality brand in the UK,” he added.
NATIONAL GRAIN MERCHANT AWARDED ROYAL WARRANT
Gleadell’s East Anglia Regional Manager, Trevor
Gates, displays the Royal Warrant outside the company’s Swaffham
offices. The award was the result of many years spent working in
partnership with Sandringham Estates.
Mr Gates said, “Gleadell Agriculture Limited and HRH staff
at Sandringham Estates have been committed to achieving excellent
customer service and innovation and we are honoured and privileged
to receive this prestigious award in recognition of our efforts.”
LATEST ABP INVESTMENT BOOSTS GLEADELL
GRAIN FACILITY AT IMMINGHAM
Associated British Ports (ABP) is set to invest £3.26
million in the construction of a dedicated agribulks storage facility
at its Port of Immingham, following the signing of a new 20-year
agreement with long-standing customer Gleadell Agriculture Limited.
ABP will demolish an obsolete shed on land adjacent to the port’s
No. 5 Quay, to make way for a new 3,500 sq m storage facility for
Gleadell – the port’s sole grain shipper and one of
the foremost grain exporters and traders in the UK. The facility
will help Gleadell service, and expand, its current operations by
enabling the company to accommodate growing shipments of imported
grain products in purpose-built dockside grain storage, as well
as providing transit storage for its wide range of export products.
It is expected that construction work on the project will commence
imminently and be completed by early autumn this year. 
“Gleadell has been at the forefront of the UK’s grain-export
market for over 20 years and has exported over 15 million tonnes
of grain from Immingham during this period. Our long-term relationship
with ABP is now cemented into the future. This facility will give
us the flexibility to import or export in what will be a fluid,
fast-moving grain market in the years ahead and enables us to offer
our farmer customers and our end-user customers purpose-built dockside
storage. Also, we see the possible expansion of the bio-fuel industry
in the immediate vicinity of the port creating new demand for grain
storage,” says David Sheppard, Managing Director of Gleadell.
In July 2002, Gleadell invested £1.25 million in a shiploader
for its grain-export operation at Immingham Dock and currently exports
approximately 500,000 tonnes of product every year. The company
also imports a wide range of grain products for customers throughout
the United Kingdom.
Nick Palmer, ABP Port Director, Grimsby & Immingham, commented,
“While ABP Immingham is renowned as a leading port for the
coal and roll-on/roll-off trades, it is also an important hub for
a diverse range of cargoes, such as agribulks. Not only will this
new investment help maintain our important, long-standing relationship
with Gleadell, it will also ensure that the port continues to benefit
from handling a wide spread of trades.”
DROUGHT DOWNUNDER CREATES OPPORTUNITY FOR
UK BEAN GROWERS
Drought conditions in Australia have created an opportunity
in the Middle East beans export market that British growers could
be well placed to exploit, says Ian Skinn, Gleadell beans and pulses
trader. But farmers must be planning to sow over the next four weeks
if they are to take full advantage of optimum soil conditions, he
advises.
“The prolonged dry weather in Australia has decimated the
country’s beans crop to the extent that we believe their exports,
which usually run on to the end of April, will be reduced to a very
limited tonnage,” explains Mr Skinn, adding that the effects
will be felt beyond the current season. “They will almost
certainly be carrying out this year’s planting in a very dry
soil, so they will probably be unable to export before February
of next year at the earliest.”
With forecasts also predicting a 20% drop in the French beans crop
available for export, growers on Gleadell contracts are already
reaping good returns this season, with premiums ranging from £10/t
for feed beans and £22/t for human consumption beans over
prices for feed wheat.
Mr Skinn added that prospects for UK bean growers next season look
good and that Gleadell, through its continental partner Union InVivo,
has a wide network of markets in Egypt, and is offering farmers
buy-back contracts for harvest 2007/08.
He stresses, however, that after recent rain in the UK, it is important
that drilling is carried out during February.
“Beans like a soil with a high moisture retention, and do
not suffer drought. If they are planted in a drier soil, and we
get a hot, dry spell in May when they are flowering, quality will
suffer.” In terms of spring bean varieties, he added that
Fuego remained ‘head and shoulders’ above the rest in
terms of yield.
Previous Articles
RAPESEED POOL RESULTS
LEAD THE WAY FOR FARMERS
ROYAL WARRANT
1000 LORRY
LOADS OF UK WHEAT HEAD FOR SPAIN
EGYPTIAN BEAN MARKET
DRIVES EXPORT SUCCESSES
FERTILISER SECURITY
CODE IS ESSENTIAL WARNS LEADING TRADER
LATEST CONSIGNMENT OF
OSR LEAVES GRIMSBY DOCKS
NEW TRADE PARTNERSHIP
TO PROVIDE QUALITY UREA TO GROWERS
EARLY START TO
EXPORT SEASON FOR MERCHANT
FERT TEAM BOOSTED AT
GLEADELL, PLUS NEW TRADERS IN EAST ANGLIA
PROTECT AGAINST
RISK AND GROW FOR YOUR MARKET IS MESSAGE TO FARMERS
29,000 TONNES OF UK FEED WHEAT
BOUND FOR SPAIN
YORKSHIRE FARMERS
WARNED ABOUT VOLATILE WORLD MARKET
NEW FERTILISER PLANT IS
GOOD NEWS FOR GROWERS
GRAIN MERCHANT BRINGS POOL
MEMBERS EXCELLENT RETURNS
THE LINCOLNSHIRE DOCKS LOADED
LOCAL GRAIN IN RECORD TIME
EAST COAST PORTS BUSY WITH
EXPORTS FROM UK FARMERS
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