soybean field

First U.S. Soybean Sustainability Certificates for Latin America Issued

Certificate of Sustainability issued to Bunge Central America, LTD
Certificate of Sustainability issued to Bunge Central America, LTD

USSEC Exporters Class Member Bunge issued the very first sustainability certificate for the Americas region on November 5. A volume of 18,506 metric tons (MT) of U.S. soybean meal was exported onboard the ship MV DK IONE on November 3, from Bunge’s facilities at Destrehan, Louisiana, heading to Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala. Central America is a region with a solid and very competitive market where imports in FY15 grew to 1,050 million metric tons (MMT) of soybean meal, and over 330 thousand metric tons (TMT) of soybeans.
Bunge Central America, LTD CEO Luis de la Cruz stated, “It has been a great pleasure working hand in hand with USSEC Americas in this process; we are definitely committed to continue sharing the U.S. soybean sustainability message so as to best service our mutual customer base in Guatemala – our headquarters for Central America - and further into the region, while supplying them with such a resource as the sustainability certificates.” He added, “The communication and exchange of information with USSEC’s team proved invaluable. . .we are glad to add value to our relevant chains, USSEC’s membership, and – most of all – to our customers.”
About 70 percent of the volume of U.S. soybean meal in the cargo goes to Grupo Importador de Guatemala, a purchasing pool made by four core customers in the country.
“We are very satisfied to receive the first U.S. soybean sustainability certificates ever in the region, which are of most interest and use for the end customers in Guatemala,” said Ronald Perez, the pool purchasing representative. The pool includes leader feed processors, and poultry and egg producers: COMAYMA, FRISA, Plantaciones del Sur and PROAVISA.
“This is a first and firm step into most actively communicating the sustainability message of U.S. soybeans and issuing the U.S. sustainability certificates in the Americas region,” remarked Pablo Viglierchio, Bunge’s Execution and Operation Manager for the region. He shared that Bunge expects to issue other certificates for the region “in the very near future per our line-up of U.S. soybean product exports to El Salvador and Panama in Central America and Colombia in South America, with other countries to soon follow.”

Luis de la Cruz (left) and Pablo Viglierchio (right) of Bunge
Luis de la Cruz (left) and Pablo Viglierchio (right) of Bunge