Archer Daniels Midland

ADM’s edge is primarily efficient scale and cost advantage from an unparalleled physical network across origination, storage, transport and processing, plus risk‑management expertise developed over decades.

These create switching frictions and service reliability for large counterparties, but they do not translate into strong price‑setting power because most end markets are commodity‑based and highly competitive. Growth initiatives in Nutrition add some intangible assets, yet profitability there has been mixed and is recovering only gradually.

Overall, we see a narrow, defendable moat vulnerable to policy and crush‑margin cycles rather than a widening, compounding moat.