Seaboard Corporation and its subsidiaries (Seaboard) operate in agricultural, energy, and ocean transport sectors globally.
Seaboard primarily engages in hog production, pork processing, and biofuel production in the United States (‘U.S.’); commodity trading and grain processing in Africa and South America; cargo shipping services in the U.S., Caribbean, and Central and South America; electric power generation in the Dominican Republic; as well as sugar and alcohol production in Argentina. Seab...
Seaboard Corporation and its subsidiaries (Seaboard) operate in agricultural, energy, and ocean transport sectors globally.
Seaboard primarily engages in hog production, pork processing, and biofuel production in the United States (‘U.S.’); commodity trading and grain processing in Africa and South America; cargo shipping services in the U.S., Caribbean, and Central and South America; electric power generation in the Dominican Republic; as well as sugar and alcohol production in Argentina. Seaboard also holds an equity method investment in Butterball, LLC (‘Butterball’), a producer and processor of turkey products.
Approximately 73% of the outstanding common stock of Seaboard is collectively owned by Seaboard Flour LLC and SFC Preferred, LLC, which are Delaware limited liability companies.
All of Seaboard’s segments provide essential goods or services, such as food, energy, and transportation. Accordingly, most of Seaboard’s operations are heavily commodity-driven, resulting in high volatility due to market prices and a cyclical nature of financial performance. With operations in over 45 countries, Seaboard is impacted by global economic conditions.
Segments
Seaboard has six segments: Pork, CT&M, Marine, Liquid Fuels, Power, and Turkey. All Other represents primarily a sugar and alcohol production and processing operation in Argentina, as well as a jalapeño pepper processing operation in Honduras.
Pork segment - Seaboard, through its subsidiary Seaboard Foods LLC (‘Seaboard Foods’), is a vertically integrated pork producer that primarily produces and sells pork products to further processors, foodservice operators, distributors, and grocery stores. This segment sells to U.S. customers and exports to Japan, Mexico, China, and numerous other foreign markets. This segment’s operations consist of hog production facilities for genetic and commercial breeding, farrowing, nursery, and finishing, as well as a pork processing plant in Oklahoma.
Seaboard has a 50% investment in Seaboard Triumph Foods, LLC (‘STF’), which operates a pork processing plant in Iowa with a capacity to process approximately six million hogs annually. Seaboard and Triumph Foods, LLC (‘Triumph’), an independent pork processor, supply a portion of the hogs processed at the STF plant. Seaboard also has a 50% investment in Daily’s Premium Meats, LLC (‘Daily’s’), which produces and markets raw and pre-cooked bacon, using pork bellies primarily sourced from Seaboard, Triumph, and STF, at Daily’s locations in Utah, Montana, and Missouri. Seaboard accounts for these investments under the equity method of accounting. Seaboard has marketing agreements with STF, Daily’s, and Triumph to market their products.
This segment also produces swine-derived renewable natural gas with its integrated model of hog operations, covered anaerobic digester lagoons, and biomethane upgrading facilities at certain of its hog farms in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Environmental credits are generated upon gas production and then sold to third parties. Most sites are in the early stages of operations.
CT&M Segment - Seaboard’s CT&M segment, which is managed under the name of Seaboard Overseas and Trading Group (‘SOTG’), is an integrated agricultural commodity trading, processing, and logistics company. Seaboard’s CT&M segment has ownership interests in several non-consolidated affiliates to further its business strategies. Overall, the CT&M segment, including its affiliates, has facilities in 26 countries, primarily in Africa and South America. The majority of the trading business is transported with chartered vessels or vessels that this segment owns.
Marine Segment - Seaboard, through its subsidiary Seaboard Marine Ltd. and various foreign-affiliated companies and third-party agents, provides cargo shipping services in the U.S. and 26 countries in the Caribbean and Central and South America. This segment’s primary operations are in Miami, Florida, and scheduled port calls are made in Brooklyn, New York; Houston, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Gloucester, New Jersey; Wilmington, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; and various foreign ports in the Caribbean and Central and South America. A network of offices and agents is used to sell freight services, including intermodal transport of import and export cargo by truck or rail to and from various U.S. and foreign ports. This segment’s fleet consists of chartered and owned vessels. Two new dual-fueled vessels were completed and delivered in 2024, and six other dual-fueled vessels are under construction and planned to be completed in 2025. These new vessels are expected to be primarily fueled by liquefied natural gas.
Liquid Fuels Segment - Seaboard, through its subsidiary Seaboard Energy, LLC, produces biodiesel at facilities in Oklahoma and Missouri, as well as renewable diesel at a facility in Kansas. Environmental credits, specifically renewable identification numbers (‘RINs’) and Low Carbon Fuel Standard (‘LCFS’) credits, are generated per federal and California state government biofuel initiatives, respectively. RINs are generated based on gallons produced, and LCFS credits are generated based on the specific carbon-reducing initiatives throughout the production process and the number of gallons shipped to California. These credits are then sold to third parties.
Power Segment - Seaboard, through its subsidiary Transcontinental Capital Corp. (Bermuda) Ltd., is an independent power producer generating electricity for the Dominican Republic power grid. It is not directly involved in the transmission or distribution of electricity. Seaboard’s Power segment uses two power-generating barges for its current operations.
Turkey Segment - Seaboard has a non-controlling 52.5% investment in Butterball, a producer and processor of conventional and antibiotic-free turkey products. Butterball is a national supplier to retail stores, foodservice outlets, and industrial entities and, to a lesser extent, exports products to Mexico and other foreign markets. Seaboard accounts for this investment under the equity method of accounting.
Other Businesses
Seaboard, through its subsidiary Seaboard Energías Renovables y Alimentos S.R.L. (‘SERA’), operates a vertically integrated sugar and alcohol production facility in Argentina. SERA owns nearly 70,000 acres of cultivated land to grow sugarcane and a processing mill with an annual capacity to crush approximately three million metric tons of sugarcane. The facility has an annual production capacity of approximately 250,000 metric tons of sugar if maximizing sugar production, and approximately 33 million gallons of alcohol if maximizing alcohol production. The sugar is primarily marketed locally, and the alcohol is marketed to industrial users and sold to certain large oil companies under the Argentine governmental bioethanol program, which requires alcohol to be blended with gasoline.
Additionally, through its subsidiary Mount Dora Farms, Inc., Seaboard processes jalapeño peppers at its plant in Honduras, which are primarily shipped to and sold in the U.S.
Customers
Seaboard does not have sales to any one customer equal to 10% or more of its consolidated revenues. The Power segment sells power in the Dominican Republic primarily to wholly government-owned distribution companies. The Turkey segment had two retail customers that collectively represented approximately 30% of its total 2024 sales.
Seasonal Business
The Turkey segment’s business is seasonal for fresh and frozen whole birds and related products, with the holiday season driving the majority of those sales.
Research and Development
Seaboard incurred research and development expenses of $113 million for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Intellectual Property
The Pork segment uses trademarks, such as Seaboard Foods, Prairie Fresh, Prairie Fresh USA Prime, the company’s Farms, the company’s Commitment, and St. Joe Pork. The CT&M segment uses trademarks, including Mothers Pride and Zambia’s Pride in Zambia, GMA and Top Pain in Ivory Coast, and GMD and Jarga in Senegal. The Marine segment uses trademarks, including Seaboard Marine and Seaboard Solutions. The Liquid Fuels segment uses the trademark Seaboard Energy. The Turkey segment uses trademarks, including Butterball, Carolina Turkey, and Farm to Family by Butterball.
History
Seaboard Corporation was founded in 1918. The company was incorporated in 1946.