长期计划可提供谷物的收益

饲料和谷物’s editor Jackie Roembke sat down for an informal discussion with Elizabeth Hund, senior vice president and division head of U.S. Bank Food Industries, to discuss the current state of global credit markets and strategies borrowers can implement to better manage their risk.

饲料和谷物: In your opinion, what trends are influencing the credit market?

伊丽莎白·洪德（Elizabeth Hund）：Right now, the largest issue is what’s going on in Europe — particularly the impact of the European financial crisis on Euro banks and their ability to make capital available in the United States. We have a lot of international banks that are in this market and as they are under stress in their home country, they’re going to bring their resources back to Europe versus deploying them in the United States. We’ve seen a lot of that in the last six to nine months. It will put more pressure on domestic banks to fill the gap for large borrowers who need a large credit line.

If you’re looking at general financing, the banks in the United States are in better shape than they were a couple of years ago. I think the banks have money to lend to strong companies. In general, the grain and feed industries are in good shape. These are credit worthy borrowers — it’s the euro banks that have drawn back.

When you look at managing the supply chain — if you look at a bank as suppliers of credit —you need a mix of domestic and internal banks because you’re never sure of who will be able to supply you with sufficient capital. Where the shift is now is away from international and back to domestic, but this could change as Europe addresses their sovrgn debt issue.

F＆G: To prove you are credit worthy, what should you be doing?

Hund:First of all, I think the industry in good shape. Most of the feed and grain companies have strong and liquid balance sheets. They are not carrying a lot of term debt. I think that’s the first thing. In terms of demonstrating credit worthiness, you have to have the ability to manage what is by nature a volatile industry, by maintaining a strong balance sheet.

您通过几乎没有长期债务来做到这一点；适用期货市场；并保持液体。例如，三到四年前的谷物上升时，玉米的价格为7美元，每蒲式耳8美元，您需要迅速增加信贷额度以满足保证金电话。您看不到今天 - 部分是因为谷物在一段时间内没有达到这些高点，并且是因为银行和公司的状况更好。没有人愿意被置于这个职位。信用额度比历史上的情况大，并且在需要时，银行更加调整如何处理临时变更。我只是看不到三年前看到的短期压力。

F＆G: From a bank's perspective, give me an example of a company who isn’t in the best position, what would they be doing wrong?

Hund:I think where people get in trouble, all of us in the industry, whether we’re lenders or borrowers is when we start taking a short-term view vs. a long-term view… When we start managing for the next 30 days, the next 90 days, the next crop cycle etc. The industry is getting much more global and grain is leaving the country and that’s a good thing for the domestic industry. When you only look at, ‘Oh, the price of corn is up today, and it should be up for the next 30 days; therefore, I’m going to make this decision or that decision…’ — that’s problematic. We are no longer a domestic business. We are driven by things happening worldwide — whether it’s weather, politics, some kind of a man-made crisis, like the Euro crisis or a foodborne illness. All of those issues drive our market and it’s no longer about what’s the demand for feed and grain in the United States. This requires companies to change their entire frame of reference.

F＆G:如果你要to list a few risk management strategies for borrowers, what would they be?

Hund:I think companies that do this well have certain characteristics. They dedicate resources to risk management. You will hav e a staff that looks at all types of risk — volatility in price, supplier or counterpart risk — the people who do it very well have dedicated resources toward it.

他们在董事会一级对围绕风险管理的政策有董事会的认识和问责制。

They usually have a written risk management policy. It will have leeway in it so if they are involved in trading or using futures market there is room for same time decision making but there are policies and guidelines that are monitored and enforced at the board level.

You’re seeing a lot more scrutiny regarding counterparty risk. Who’s buying this product, what are their resources and how are they paying me? and who are my suppliers? Since we’re talking banks, whether it’s your bank or the person taking your trade — MF Global is a perfect example of this. There was counterparty risk at MF Global. People assumed that their deposit accounts were covered and if it was handled properly those accounts should have been segregated. It didn’t work out that way, and people were hurt. It was a wake-up call for knowing your counterparty.

From a banking standpoint, do I have more than one bank? Is my bank knowledgeable about my industry? Is it sound? Is it domestic or foreign? What if I’m doing fine but my bank is under stress and can’t provide me with the credit facilities that I need? What do I do then?

To me, risk management is very broad. Companies that manage this well manage all aspects of it. It demonstrates discipline about looking at this industry in the long view, and knowing there will be downturns and run ups in the market, but being disciplined about it so your balance sheet can be relatively stable.

F＆G：对于银行，一家公司与现有关系有现有关系，您如何审查或审查它仍然适合您的业务？

Hund:我认为客户有权知道，我认为要求查看其资产负债表是适当的。询问他们在压力测试中的表现 - 因为现在通过对其资产负债表强度进行这些练习来询问银行。我认为，如果他们是公开评级的银行，询问他们的公共评级是什么，这是完全合适的。您的贷款政策是什么？您的投资组合中有多少百分比由我的行业组成？如果您是银行拥有的唯一谷物客户，他们将如何理解和解决市场变化？客户可以要求银行证明自己的实力。作为银行家，我鼓励客户这样做。

F＆G：有什么想法吗？

Hund:这是谷物和饲料行业的好时机，但这也是一个充满挑战的时期。我比很长时间以来更看好。我认为它已成为一个全球行业，这对我们所有人都有好处。

—Jackie Roembke