The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) used Market Access Program (MAP) funds to sponsor a 21-member South Korean feed grains buyer team to the United States to attend Export Exchange 2018. The team included 12 feed formulators and buyers from major South Korean feed companies and eight distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) traders.
In addition to participating in the Export Exchange 2018 events in Minneapolis, the team visited an export terminal, a grain inspection office, a poultry farm, a DDGS transloading facility and an ethanol plant. The participants had opportunities to understand the whole U.S. grain and co-product export supply chain and to witness the U.S. quality control system.
As a whole, Export Exchange 2018 offered attendees a unique opportunity to meet and build relationships with domestic suppliers of corn, DDGS, sorghum, barley and other commodities. More than 200 international buyers and end-users of coarse grains and co-products from more than 35 countries along with 180 U.S. industry participants attended the conference.
At the conclusion of the program, South Korean participants confirmed they were negotiating or had successfully purchased 127,000 metric tons of U.S. DDGS, worth $27.4 million.
The Council invested $100,000 of MAP funds to support this South Korean market promotion program with a return on investment (ROI) of $274 per $1 of MAP invested.
About The U.S. Grains Council
The U.S. Grains Council develops export markets for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol. With full-time presence in 28 locations, the Council operates programs in more than 50 countries and the European Union. The Council believes exports are vital to global economic development and to U.S. agriculture’s profitability. Detailed information about the Council and its programs is online at www.grains.org.