LANSING, Mich. — Southeast Asian feed grain industry importers – from Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia – were in Minneapolis for Export Exchange before heading to Michigan to meet with suppliers and exporters of U.S. corn, its co-products and sorghum last week. The Michigan portion of the visit was hosted in conjunction with the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan (CMPM).
Export Exchange is a biennial educational and trade forum for U.S. feed grains that hosts approximately 200 international buyers and end-users organized into 21 USGC trade teams. Southeast Asia is one of the fastest-growing markets for U.S. feed grains.
“Forging relationships with foreign buyers through events like Export Exchange is one of the best ways we can help grow future demand for Michigan corn and corn products,” said Jim Zook, executive director of CMPM. “Maintaining a strong export market for corn, ethanol and DDGS is deeply important to Michigan’s corn growers. That’s why CMPM invests farmer checkoff dollars in the U.S. Grains Council to fund global efforts to grow markets for our products.”
The team first attended Export Exchange, sponsored by USGC, the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy, allowing these buyers to meet with U.S. sellers of corn, sorghum, barley, distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), corn gluten meal and corn gluten feed.
“At a time when the U.S is looking to create new trade agreements, highlighting the importance of international trade can be no better illustrated than by Export Exchange and the trade team visits before and after the event,” said Tom Sleight, president and CEO of the USGC.
“It is essential for us to strengthen the bonds between suppliers and partner countries, and the connections made at this critical event will not only help propel our industry this year, but for years to come.”
In addition to networking opportunities, attendees at Export Exchange were briefed on the global supply and demand situation, transportation issues and challenges, the global grains outlook, new advances in DDGS and poultry, food safety regulations, and agribusiness, the current U.S. policy environment, and more.
Export Exchange also highlights the importance of strong trade policy and market development to U.S. agriculture. The Council, in partnership with CMPM, works in more than 50 countries and the European Union to market U.S. grains and their related products and build long-term demand from loyal customers.
After Export Exchange, the team traveled to several sites in Michigan to learn more about the U.S. marketing system for feed grains and co-products. They visited with farmers Jeff Sandborn (Portland) and Brian Kreps (LaSalle) for crop tours of the 2018 corn harvest. They visited various grain users and processors including CarbonGreen Bioenergy (Lake Odessa), Poll Farms (Hamilton), CHS Feed Mill (Holland) and VandeBunte Eggs (Martin). The team also visited Brink Farms Trucking (Hamilton) and MW Transload Facility (Detroit) to give them a better idea of how grain moves through the logistics channels for export.
Over the course of their activities in Michigan, these individuals had opportunities to directly do business and make connections to facilitate future sales.
The Council’s efforts with this team is part of a larger effort to sell coarse grains to Southeast Asian buyers. Four additional teams from the region – totaling more than 65 attendees –also participated in Export Exchange and attend pre- and post-tours in other Midwestern states during October.
More information on Export Exchange 2018 is available at www.exportexchange.org. More from the Grains Council is at www.grains.org. More from CMPM is at www.micorn.org.
— Corn Marketing Program of Michigan
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