Grains expert Palmquist brings three decades of international agribusiness experience
Agribusiness GrainCorp has a new managing director and CEO in the form of former CHS executive vice president and chief operating officer, Ag Business Mark Palmquist.
Hailing from Minnesota, Palmquist joined CHS, the global agribusiness that has diversified into energy, grains and food, 35 years ago as a grain buyer.
GrainCorp executive chairman and interim CEO Don Taylor says Palmquist “brings a valuable combination of deep industry knowledge and global management experience to GrainCorp”.
The American, whose responsibilities also included terminal operations, exports, logistics and transportation, comes to the Australian company at a time of transformation.
In June, following the Federal Government’s blocking of its merger with US commodities giant Archer Daniels Midland, it announced a rationalisation of its supply chain with a view to making rail its mode of choice to ports based on inland transport hubs, especially in New South Wales.
Palmquist is on record in the US as underlining the centrality of transport and logistics to agribusinesses and agriculture success.
“It is vitally important that the US protects this economic and security asset by investing in transportation infrastructure,” he told publication Soybean Business last year.