Insights and Stories of Karl Plume

Chicago, Illinois, USA - March 28, 2022: Chicago Board of Trade office in Chicago. The Chicago Board of Trade is one of the world's oldest futures and options exchanges.

U.S. grains: Corn and soy climb on bargain buying, positioning ahead of holiday weekend

Jul. 2, 2025 at 3:09 pm CDT

U.S. grain and soybean futures rose on Wednesday in a bargain-buying and technical advance after recent declines and ahead of the Independence Day holiday weekend, with U.S. markets closed on Friday.

USDA announces phased reopening of Mexican cattle imports after screwworm closure

Jun. 30, 2025 at 5:29 pm CDT

By Karl Plume Reuters

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs tick down on technical selling, cattle mixed

Jun. 24, 2025 at 4:37 pm CDT

By Karl Plume Reuters

U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans slip on profit-taking, favourable Midwest weather

Jun. 20, 2025 at 4:17 pm CDT

By Karl Plume Reuters

Bunge receives China regulatory approval for Viterra deal

Jun. 13, 2025 at 1:14 pm CDT

By Karl Plume Reuters

ADM sets off ‘frenzy’ in US soybean market ahead of new biofuel blend rule

Jun. 13, 2025 at 10:02 am CDT

Archer-Daniels-Midland, a major U.S. soybean crusher and biofuel producer, slashed its bids to buy the oilseed this week ahead of an expected Trump administration announcement on biofuel blending requirements, a primary driver of demand for soybean oil - and a prospective source of demand for Canadian canola.

By Karl Plume Reuters Tom Polansek

ADM closing soybean processing plant in Kershaw, South Carolina

Apr. 22, 2025 at 9:34 am CDT

Grains merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland will permanently close its soybean processing plant in Kershaw, South Carolina, later this spring as part of a cost-cutting and consolidation push announced earlier this year.

By Karl Plume Reuters

ADM halting domestic trading in China, cutting jobs in Shanghai

Apr. 14, 2025 at 4:41 pm CDT

Global grain merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland has begun shutting down domestic trading operations in China and laying off staff within its largest business segment as part of a global cost-cutting push, the company said in an emailed statement on Monday.

By Ella Cao Karl Plume Reuters

North American biofuels sector contracts amid trade and policy uncertainty

Mar. 20, 2025 at 1:32 pm CDT

U.S. and Canadian biofuel companies are throttling back production to limit losses amid uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump's approach to green fuel subsidies and the potential for a worsening trade war.

By Ed White Karl Plume Reuters

A tugboat passes shipping containers being unloaded and stacked on a pier at Port Newark, New Jersey, U.S., November 19, 2021.

Proposed U.S. port fees on China-built ships choking coal, agriculture exports

Mar. 19, 2025 at 4:24 pm CDT

U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to revive U.S. shipbuilding using massive fees on China-linked ship visits to American ports is causing U.S. coal inventories to swell and stoking uncertainty in the embattled agriculture market, as exporters struggle to find ships to send goods abroad.

By Karl Plume Lisa Baertlein Reuters Timothy Gardner