W.D.M. firm sells $8 million in corn to Cuba

W.D.M. firm sells $8 million in corn to Cuba
FCStone has been selling commodities to the island nation since 2001.

By JERRY PERKINS
REGISTER FARM EDITOR

November 11, 2005

FCStone , a West Des Moines-based grain merchandiser, sold about $8
million of corn to Cuba last week during the 23rd Havana International Fair.

Chris Aberle , director of sales for FCStone, said the corn sale totals
75,000 metric tons, or almost 3 million bushels, that will be delivered
in January, February and March.

FCStone has sold a total of $92 million in corn and other commodities to
Cuba since 2001, when U.S. trade restrictions were eased to allow the
sale of food and agricultural products to that nation.

Although the Bush administration has imposed restrictions on credit that
can be extended to Cuba, Aberle said FCStone's sales haven't been hurt.

"Fortunately for us, we continue to get our fair share of the Cuban
business," he said.

FCStone's sales to Cuba represent about 9 percent of Cuban food
purchases since 2001, said John Kavulich of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and
Economic Council Inc. in New York. That makes FCStone one of the leading
sellers of food and agricultural products to Cuba.

Kavulich said U.S. exports to Cuba in 2005 have been running behind a
year ago, but September's sales were double what they were a year ago.

Pedro Alvarez Borrego , head of Alimport, the Cuban government's foreign
food purchasing agency, has said Cuba will buy as much or more U.S. food
in 2005 as it did in 2004, Kavulich said.

Don Mason, director of grower services at the Iowa Corn Promotion Board,
also attended the international trade fair in Havana.

"I think Cuba is still a promising export market, but we have to be
realistic," Mason said. "We have a shipping cost advantage over other
countries, but we're going to have to compete with Venezuela, Argentina
and Canada."

Forty countries were represented at the fair, and 150 companies from the
United States had booths, Mason said.

"There's no love lost between our governments, but I believe Cuba is
worth paying attention to," he said. "Iowa farmers can't afford to
ignore any market."

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