CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S. — “Extreme winter weather” has affected first-quarter North American operations more than normal at Archer Daniels Midland Co., the company said on March 25.

“In March, powerful snow and rain storms early in the month and resulting flooding and its after-effects are affecting both Carbohydrates Solutions and Origination operations,” the company said. “Rail transportation has been disrupted throughout the region; our corn processing complex in Columbus, Nebraska, was idled due to flooding and currently is running at reduced rates; and unfavorable river conditions since December are severely limiting barge transportation movements and port activities.”

ADM said severe cold temperatures and snowstorms early in the first quarter adversely affected some of the company’s Carbohydrate Solutions processing plants in the Midwest.

“The extreme weather reduced corn processing volumes principally due to a slowdown in rail and truck transportation, which affected both inbound and outbound shipments,” the company said. “We continue to assess the situation and utilize our transportation and operating network as much as possible to meet customer needs. Taken together, we expect these severe weather disruptions to have a negative pre-tax operating profit impact to ADM of $50 million to $60 million for the first quarter. That impact will be roughly equal between Carbohydrate Solutions and Origination, with some minor impacts to our other segments. We will have a further update on our first quarter 2019 earnings call, with an assessment of full year impacts, including recoveries and offsets.”

ADM said it has donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross to provide disaster relief in areas affected by the recent flooding.