Kimberly Aagaard is a Research Analyst at SelectUSA
In honor of Thanksgiving and the recent addition of the agribusiness industry page to the SelectUSA website, it is a great time to look at how foreign direct investment (FDI) in agribusiness helps support feasts and festivities around the country.
What is agribusiness?
By SelectUSA’s definition, the agribusiness industry is made up of establishments engaging in livestock, crop production, forestry, aquaculture and fishing, hunting, and agricultural chemical manufacturing.*
What has FDI contributed to the U.S. agribusiness industry?
Recently, SelectUSA worked with Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), a 98-year-old Thai company, to help the company establish a U.S. subsidiary called Homegrown Shrimp USA, LLC. The company announced earlier this year that it will produce shrimp with a focus on nutrition and sustainability and invest approximately $6.6 million in a recirculating farm outside of West Palm Beach, Florida. In addition to investing in the community and producing a more reliable supply of seafood, Homegrown Shrimp USA will use innovative aquaculture technology in its land-based farm. CP Group has also undertaken efforts to collaborate on research with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Looking at the national level, the agribusiness industry’s FDI position in the United States was valued at $14.1 billion in 2018, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In 2016, agribusiness FDI also supported an estimated 14,700 U.S. jobs, $114 million worth of research and development spending, and over $1.1 billion in U.S. exports!
According to fDi Markets, announced FDI greenfield projects in the U.S. agribusiness industry have totaled approximately $3.3 billion in the past five years. Pesticides, fertilizers, and other agricultural chemicals made up the largest agribusiness sub-sector by announced capital investment from September 2014 to August 2019 (over $1.9 billion).
In the past five years, the top sources of U.S. agribusiness greenfield projects by announced capital investment are Norway ($809.7 million), Germany ($674.3 million), Hong Kong ($373.4 million), Canada ($372.5 million), and Brazil ($259.6 million). In addition, Germany was the largest source market by number of projects (22) and by estimated jobs created (1,913) from September 2014 to August 2019.
Norway was the top source market of U.S. agribusiness FDI in the past five years.
Investors from the top 10 source markets announced a total of $3.1 billion in greenfield capital investment in U.S. agribusiness between September 2014 and August 2019.
Agribusiness FDI in the United States not only brings investment and new jobs to our communities; it also brings us the delicious products of those investments. As Thanksgiving approaches, SelectUSA is grateful for all FDI, especially that of the agribusiness industry.
To learn more about how SelectUSA supports FDI in all industries, sign up for our email updates and visit SelectUSA.gov for resources such as FDI fact sheets, interactive data tools, and informative reports. You can also follow and contribute to our #FDIintheUSA campaign on Twitter!
About SelectUSA
Housed within the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, SelectUSA promotes and facilitates business investment in the United States.
*SelectUSA categorizes agricultural machinery in the machinery and equipment industry and categorizes food processing in the consumer goods industry