Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. RISK FACTORS (Continued)
The Company is subject to economic downturns and regional economic volatilities, which could adversely affect the Company’s operating results.
The Company conducts its business and has substantial assets located in many countries and geographic areas. While 63% of the Company’s long-lived assets are located in the United States, the Company also has significant operations in both developed areas (such as Western Europe, Canada, and Brazil) and emerging market areas. One of the Company’s strategies is to expand the global reach of its core model, which may include expanding or developing its business in emerging market areas. Both developed and emerging market areas are subject to impacts of economic downturns, including decreased demand for the Company’s products, and reduced availability of credit, or declining credit quality of the Company’s suppliers, customers, and other counterparties. In addition, emerging market areas could be subject to more volatile operating conditions including, but not limited to, logistics limitations or delays, labor-related challenges, epidemic outbreaks and economic recovery, limitations or regulations affecting trade flows, local currency concerns, and other economic and political instability. Political fiscal instability could generate intrusive regulations in emerging markets, potentially creating unanticipated assessments of taxes, fees, increased risks of corruption, etc. Economic downturns and volatile market conditions could adversely affect the Company’s operating results and ability to execute its long-term business strategies, although the nature of many of the Company’s products (i.e. food and feed ingredients) is less sensitive to demand reductions in any economic downcycle. The Company mitigates this risk in many ways, including country risk and exposure analysis, government relations and tax compliance activities, and robust ethics compliance training requirements.
The Company has significant competition in the markets in which it operates and is subject to industry-specific risks which could adversely affect the Company’s operating results.
The Company faces significant competition in each of its businesses and has numerous competitors, who can be different depending upon each of the business segments in which it participates. The Company competes for the acquisition of inputs such as raw materials, transportation services, and other materials and supplies, as well as for workforce and talent. Competition impacts the Company’s ability to generate and increase its gross profit as a result of the following factors: Pricing of the Company’s products is partly dependent upon industry processing capacity, which is impacted by competitor actions to bring idled capacity on-line, build new production capacity or execute aggressive consolidation; many of the products bought and sold by the Company are global commodities or are derived from global commodities that are highly price competitive and, in many cases, subject to substitution; significant changes in exchange rates of foreign currencies versus the U.S. dollar, particularly the currencies of major crop growing countries, could also make goods and products of these countries more competitive than U.S. products; improved yields in different crop growing regions may reduce the reliance on origination territories in which the Company has a significant presence; and continued merger and acquisition activities resulting in further consolidations could result in greater cost competitiveness and global scale of certain players in the industry, especially when acquirers are state-owned and/or backed by public funds and have profit and return objectives that may differ from publicly traded enterprises. To compete effectively, the Company focuses on safely improving efficiency in its production and distribution operations, developing and maintaining appropriate market presence, maintaining a high level of product safety and quality, supporting socially responsible and sustainable practices, promoting environmental responsibility, and working with customers to develop new products and tailored solutions.
The Company is subject to industry-specific risks which include, but are not limited to: launch of new products by other industries that can replace the functionalities of the Company’s production; shifting consumer preferences; and product safety and quality. In the case of the Nutrition business, while maintaining efficient and cost-effective operations are important, the ability to drive innovation and develop quality nutritional and wellness solutions for human and animal needs are key factors to remain competitive in the nutrition market. Certain of the Company’s merchandised commodities and finished products are used as ingredients in livestock and poultry feed. The Company is subject to risks associated with economic, product quality, feed safety or other factors which may adversely affect the livestock and poultry businesses, including the outbreak of disease in livestock and poultry, for example African swine fever, which could adversely affect demand for the Company’s products used as ingredients in feed. In addition, ADM’s increased investment in the flavors and ingredients businesses exposes the Company to increased risks related to rapidly changing consumer preferences and the impacts these changes could have on the success of certain of the Company’s customers. The Company continually assesses opportunities and demand in various regions.
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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS (Continued)
The Company’s risk management strategies may not be effective.
The Company has a Chief Risk Officer who oversees the ERM Program and regularly reports to the Board of Directors on the myriad of risks facing the Company and the Company’s strategies for mitigating those risks. The Company’s business is affected by fluctuations in agricultural commodity cash prices and derivative prices, transportation costs, energy prices, interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, and equity markets. The Company monitors position limits, counterparty risks, and liquidity levels, and engages in other strategies and controls to manage these risks. The Company regularly reports its aggregate commodity risk exposures to the Board of Directors through the ERM process. The Company has an established commodity merchandising governance process that ensures proper position reporting and monitoring, limit approvals, and executes training on trade compliance, commodity regulatory reporting controls, and other policies. The Company’s risk monitoring efforts may not be successful at detecting a significant risk exposure. If these controls and strategies are not successful in mitigating the Company’s exposure to these fluctuations, it could adversely affect the Company’s operating results.
Regulatory Risks
The Company is subject to numerous laws, regulations, and mandates globally which could adversely affect the Company’s operating results and forward strategy.
The Company does business globally, connecting crops and markets in over 190 countries, and is required to comply with laws and regulations administered by the United States federal government as well as state, local, and non-U.S. governmental authorities in numerous areas including: accounting and income taxes, anti-corruption, anti-bribery, global trade, trade sanctions, privacy and security, environmental, product safety, and handling and production of regulated substances. The Company frequently faces challenges from U.S. and foreign tax authorities regarding the amount of taxes due including questions regarding the timing, amount of deductions, the allocation of income among various tax jurisdictions. Legislatures and taxing authorities in many jurisdictions in which ADM operates may enact changes to their tax rules. For example, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the “OECD”), the European Union, and other countries (including countries in which the Company operates) have committed to enacting substantial changes to numerous long-standing tax principles impacting how large multinational enterprises are taxed. In particular, the OECD’s Pillar Two initiative introduces a 15% global minimum tax applied on a country-by-country basis and for which many jurisdictions have now committed to an effective enactment date starting January 1, 2024. ADM will continually monitor potential and enacted tax changes, including the implementation of Pillar Two legislation, in the countries in which the Company operates. The impact of these potential new rules, as well as any other changes in domestic and international tax rules and regulations, could have a material effect on ADM’s effective tax rate. Any failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations or appropriately resolve these challenges could subject the Company to administrative, civil, and criminal remedies, including fines, penalties, disgorgement, injunctions, and recalls of its products, and damage to its reputation.
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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS (Continued)
Regulations specifically affecting the agricultural sector and related industries; regulatory policies or matters that affect a variety of businesses; and taxation polices could adversely affect the Company’s operating results.
Agricultural production and trade flows are subject to government policies, mandates, regulations, and trade agreements, including taxes, tariffs, duties, subsidies, incentives, foreign exchange rates, and import and export restrictions, including policies related to genetically modified organisms, traceability standards, sustainable practices, product safety and labeling, renewable fuels, and low carbon fuel mandates. These policies can influence the planting of certain crops; the location and size of crop production; whether unprocessed or processed commodity products are traded; the volume and types of imports and exports; the availability and competitiveness of feedstocks as raw materials; the viability and volume of production of certain of the Company’s products; and industry profitability. For example, changes in government policies or regulations of ethanol and biodiesel including, but not limited to, changes in the Renewable Fuel Standard program under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 in the United States, including the treatment of small refinery exemptions, can have an impact on the Company’s operating results. International trade regulations can adversely affect agricultural commodity trade flows by limiting or disrupting trade between countries or regions. Regulations of financial markets and instruments, including the Dodd-Frank Act, Consumer Protection Act, and the European Market Infrastructure Regulation, create uncertainty and may lead to additional risks and costs, and could adversely affect the Company’s futures commission merchant business and its agricultural commodity risk management practices. Future government policies may adversely affect the supply of, demand for, and prices of the Company’s products; adversely affect the Company’s ability to deploy adequate hedging programs; restrict the Company’s ability to do business in its existing and target markets; and adversely affect the Company’s revenues and operating results.
The Company’s strategy involves expanding the volume and diversity of crops it merchandises and processes, expanding the global reach of its core model, expanding its value-added product portfolio, and expanding the sustainable agriculture programs and partnerships it participates in. Government policies including, but not limited to, antitrust and competition law, trade restrictions, food safety regulations, sustainability requirements, and traceability, can impact the Company’s ability to execute this strategy successfully.
Technological Risks
Information technology (IT) systems are subject to interruptions or failures which may affect the Company’s ability to conduct its business.
The Company’s operations rely on certain key IT systems, some of which are dependent on services provided by third parties, to provide critical data connectivity, information, and services for internal and external users. These interactions include, but are not limited to: ordering and managing materials from suppliers; risk management activities; converting raw materials to finished products; inventory management; shipping products to customers; processing transactions; summarizing and reporting financial results of operations; human resources benefits and payroll management; and complying with regulatory, legal or tax requirements. Additionally, legacy technologies are used to support significant business functions. The instability of aging legacy systems could diminish performance and elevate the risk of system failures, reduce compatibility with modern software, and impact growth initiatives. The Company is implementing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and integrating it with various third party service providers on a worldwide basis as part of its ongoing business transformation program, which will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of certain financial and business transaction processes and the underlying systems environment. The new ERP system will mitigate the instability of aging legacy systems as the Company transitions to the new 1ADM platform.
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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS (Continued)
The Company’s IT systems, processes, and sites may suffer cyber security breaches, which could expose the Company to operational and various regulatory risks.
Increased IT security and social engineering threats and more sophisticated computer crime, including advanced persistent threats, pose a potential risk to the security of the Company’s IT systems, networks, and services, as well as the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of the Company’s third party data. The Company is subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the United States and other jurisdictions regarding privacy, data protection, and data security, including those related to the collection, storage, handling, use, disclosure, transfer, and security of personal data. Compliance with and interpretation of various data privacy regulations continue to evolve and any violation could subject the Company to legal claims, regulatory penalties, and damage to its reputation. The Company has put in place security measures to endeavor to prevent, detect, and mitigate cyber-based attacks, and has instituted control procedures for cybersecurity incident response plans for its critical systems. In addition, the Company monitors this risk on an ongoing basis to detect and correct breaches, and reports metrics on the quality of the Company’s data security efforts and control environment to the highest level of management and to the Board of Directors. However, if the Company’s IT systems are breached, damaged, or cease to function properly due to any number of causes, such as catastrophic events, power outages, security breaches, or cyber-based attacks, and the Company’s recovery efforts do not effectively mitigate the risks on a timely basis, the Company may suffer significant interruptions in its ability to manage its operations, loss of valuable data, actual or threatened legal actions, and damage to its reputation, which may adversely impact the Company’s revenues, operating results, and financial condition.
Generative AI advancements are progressing at an unprecedented pace, which brings risks that could subject the Company to loss through various technical, legal, and opportunistic-related risks.
The pace of Generative AI and the complex and dynamic regulatory environment subjects the Company to a variety of risks including, but not limited to, data privacy and security vulnerabilities, unauthorized third-party usage of Company data associated with training models, malicious use and advanced deceitful communication methods, missed innovation opportunities, and potential competitive disadvantages. Guidance for awareness and responsible Generative AI use to protect ADM data from a legal and ethical standpoint, along with technological development for opportunistic uses, monitoring, and oversight are important components of the Company’s risk mitigation approach.