BENCHMARKING MISSION OF ABIDJAN PORT AUTHORITY TO NEW ORLEANS: VISITS OF STATE-OF-THE-ART GRAIN FACILITIES

Visite de travail Monday 12 August 2024

From 08 to 13 June 2024, Mr Hien YACOUBA SIÉ, Managing Director of Abidjan Port Authority (PAA) led a delegation for a working mission to New Orleans and Miami, in the United States.

A conference of Port Directors was held by Seaboard Group, of which the "Grand Moulins d'Abidjan" its branch, is a major grain operator on the Abidjan and Dakar Port platforms. The conference which was attended by the Abidjan port Authorities (Côte d'Ivoire), the Port Authorities of Dakar (Sénégal) Matadi (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Pointe Noire (Republic of Congo) provided the opportunity for PAA and the Seaboard Group to strengthen their friendship and Cooperation links.

The mission was also attended by the United States' Trade Department, the representatives of Ambassadors from Côte D’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, by the representatives of Business Council for International Trade understanding (BCIU) was also the occasion for Abidjan Port Authority to tour the facilities of the Grain Terminal of Zen-Noh Grain factory and of South Louisiana Port (Port. SL) in New Orleans. The visits continued the next day in Miami with the touring of Seaboard Marine’s facilities which enabled the participants to explore new commercial, business opportunities with the present partners.

The phase of the visit to New Orleans on Tuesday 11 June 2024, began with the touring of the Grain Terminal of Zen-Noh Grain Corporation (ZGC) USAni.

The terminal with a minimum fixed capacity of 18.5 million tons of grain, processes annually about 45% of soy beans, 45% of corn and 10% of wheat.

The factory which has been in operation for 42 years provides 200 jobs. It is operational all year round and processes daily through offloading from barges, rail and trucks, about 60 000 tons of cargo, at a rate of one ship per day and 300 ships per year. However during the main campaign, the terminal operates at a monthly capacity of 30 panamax ships.

This terminal ranks among the five big grain industries in the United States. The commercial policy implemented by the company through CGB Enterprises, its affiliates enables ZGC to achieve 75% of its export volume, thanks to a close collaboration with American farmers operating along the Mississipi River, which accounts for more than half of the American states.

Note that ZGC operates  panamax ships carrying up to 70 000 tons of grain along quayside, whereas 20% of cargo are exported to Japan. The other destinations serviced are the Caribbean and South America. In the case of Seaboard, its major trading partner, which grain shipments mainly come from Poland and Ukraine, the opportunity remains to open up to the African market provided that the major obstacle related to the logistics transport costs is removed. "We hope that the American wheat will be more competitive on the international markets and mainly the African markets in the ten coming months" the factory managers said.

A touring of the grain terminal's facilities enabled the port actors to get acquainted with the different stages in the handling of cargo, from the unloading to the reloading of the vessel through cargo control by USDA team (United States Department of Agriculture) on secondment to the site, in charge of ensuring quality compliance of shipments - An enriching visit aimed at helping us  to improve operations in our ports.

The day in New Orleans continued with the visit to South Louisiana Port (Port.SL) where the African Port experts were received by the Local Port Authorities.

Ranked second in grain exports in the United States, Port.SL houses on its port platform, 87 km in length, seven (7) grain terminals including ZGC factory, a big operator, three major refineries and eleven (11) petrochemical industries among others. Port SL is the largest of the five deep water ports gathered in an association and located along the Mississipi River.

The exchanges, not only dealt with the freight transport mode, mainly by barge on Mississipi river, but also with the autonomous self-financing management mechanism of Port.SL, thus optimizing the reinjection of tax-free expenses meant to upgrade the infrastructure and to develop the port platform.

Fruitful discussions which enabled the different parties involved to open a window unto future business opportunities.