Business news in brief

Grain firms will go to trial over dispute

A trial date of Feb. 8 has been set in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Little Rock to settle a dispute between bankrupt Turner Grain Merchandising and KBX, a Benton grain dealer.

Turner Grain Merchandising in Brinkley filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2014, about two months after it was closed down by federal grain inspectors who found no grain in bins that were certified as being full. The company listed liabilities of $24.8 million against assets of $13.8 million.

The dispute between Turner Grain Merchandising and KBX is an offshoot of a financial collapse that left farmers owed millions of dollars for grain for which Turner never paid.

Turner and KBX attempted to reach a settlement in their dispute as part of the overall Turner Grain Merchandising Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. Settlement negotiations fell apart in March. The court-appointed bankruptcy trustee for Turner Grain filed a lawsuit a couple of weeks later.

During settlement attempts over the summer, KBX said it owed Turner $887,806.04 for grain it purchased from Turner but also said it was due a setoff of $532,923.19 for corn that Turner bought from KBX but paid for with a hot check. That left KBX owing a balance of $354,882.85.

Whether KBX is due that setoff will be decided by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Phyllis Jones.

-- Stephen Steed

State Farm Bureau re-elects 9 officials

Delegates to the Arkansas Farm Bureau's annual convention on Friday re-elected President Randy Veach and Vice President Rich Hillman.

Veach, of Manila in Mississippi County, begins his ninth one-year term as president. Hillman, of Carlisle, begins his ninth term as vice president.

Delegates also re-elected seven board members to two-year terms: Terry Dabbs, Stuttgart; Tom Jones, Pottsville; Caleb Plyler, Hope; Rusty Smith, Des Arc; Leo Sutterfield, Mountain View; Dan Wright, Waldron; and Joe Christian, Jonesboro, who also was elected secretary-treasurer.

-- Stephen Steed

Venezuela suspended from trade group

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- South American nations say they have suspended Venezuela from the Mercosur trade group over its failure to comply with its commitments when it joined the group in 2012.

Argentina's foreign ministry said in a statement Friday that Venezuela had failed to meet a Dec. 1 deadline to adopt certain standards required for membership. The foreign ministers of the four founding members -- Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay -- notified Venezuela's government of the decision in a letter.

Mercosur accepted Venezuela as a member when South America was dominated by leftist governments in an effort to link the region's biggest agricultural and energy markets.

But the socialist-run Venezuela has fallen afoul of its neighbors as it has cracked down on the opposition and conservative governments have assumed power in Argentina and Brazil.

-- The Associated Press

Canada's jobless rate improves to 6.8%

OTTAWA, Ontario -- Canada's unemployment rate fell for the first time in five months in November as people dropped out of the labor force and companies added part-time workers.

The rate declined to 6.8 percent after holding at 7 percent in the prior three months, Statistics Canada said Friday in Ottawa. Employment climbed by 10,700 and another 27,600 left the labor force, most of them in Quebec.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected the unemployment rate would be unchanged and employment would decline by 15,000.

The fourth-straight monthly jobs gain is another sign the economy is healing after a collapse in commodity prices and business investment.

The report underlined the shift in the economy linked to the oil crash. Unemployment in the energy hub of Alberta surged to the highest in more than two decades at 9 percent, and in the manufacturing region of Quebec it fell to a record low of 6.2 percent.

-- Bloomberg News

Agency renews license for Grand Gulf

PORT GIBSON, Miss. -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed Grand Gulf Nuclear Station's operating license through 2044.

The plant is currently closed through the first of the year to address maintenance issues.

Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, chairman of the state's utilities regulatory agency, told The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss., that this is an early Christmas present for Mississippi Entergy customers.

Grand Gulf Nuclear Station has been shut down since Sept. 8. The plant was initially shut down to repair a water cooling pump. But on Sept. 23, after work on the pump was completed, workers discovered problems with a backup cooling system.

Presley said the plant is scheduled to start back up on Jan. 15.

-- The Associated Press

'I love NY'-logo beer will go to China

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Beer brewed in New York and bearing the "I Love NY" logo will be distributed in China starting next year.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday that Two Dragons beer brewed by the Syracuse-based Empire Brewing Co. will arrive in China in February. He says the first officially licensed "I Love NY" beer will introduce the Empire State's thriving craft beverage industry to a global audience.

The ale-style beer is brewed with hops grown in New York state and Chinese black tea. The bottle caps and labels bear the official state tourism campaign's "I Love NY" logo with a red heart between the "I" and "NY".

Empire Brewing owner David Katleski said he was inspired to create Two Dragons during a state-sponsored trade mission to China last year.

-- The Associated Press

Business on 12/03/2016

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