Global agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has said it is expecting this year to be another strong one after a record 2021.
“As we enter 2022, we’re well situated to capitalise on strong crush margins, driven by good demand for meal and for vegetable oil as a feedstock for renewable green diesel; a continuing healthy ethanol market, supported by increased domestic and export demand and better clarity of the regulatory landscape; and our robust Nutrition sales pipeline, as well as the accretion of our recent acquisitions in that business,” ADM chairman and CEO Juan Luciano said when announcing the company’s fourth quarter results for last year – along with full year results for 2021 – on 25 January.
The company’s net income in 2021 totalled US$2.71bn.
Year-end operating profit in the Ag Services and Oilseeds division for 2021 increased to US$2.78bn compared to US$2.10bn the previous year, while profit in the fourth quarter dropped slightly from US$834M in 2020 to US$810M last year.
Within the ag services segment, year-on-year operating profit dropped from US$828M to US$770M last year, while crushing profit jumped from US$466M to US$975M and refined products and other increased from US$439M to US$652M.
“Crushing executed well in a continued solid demand environment for both soyabean meal and vegetable oil,” ADM said in its statement.
Looking ahead, ADM expected global demand in Ag Services and Oilseeds to be continue to be positive.
“Due to a short growth in South America, with the magnitude of the shortfall still to be determined, we expect global ag commodity buyers will rely relatively more on the US market for their needs, assuming we have a normal US crop later this year,” Luciano was quoted as saying in a World Grain report on 26 January.
In oilseeds, ADM had had a strong start this year with strong soya crush margins, he said.
The company expected increasing demand for meal as well as vegetable oil as a feedstock for renewable green diesel to benefit the business, Luciano added.
