Several events in 2020 helped maintain Colombia’s status as the third-largest customer for U.S. corn.
In early 2020, ICA – the Colombian government’s control authority – issued a new regulation for feed production and commercialization, requiring companies producing feed for commercial use or for their own integrated options to implement good management practices (GMP) by February 2022.
The Council partnered with the Colombian feed association (ANDI) to plan a follow-up program to help the Colombian feed industry comply with the new rules. After the outbreak of COVID-19, the organizations moved to virtual programming and conducted three virtual sessions from mid-August to mid-September on different sections of the GMP regulation.
More than 1,000 stakeholders attended the sessions through Zoom, and another 1,000 viewers participated through ICA’s live-streaming of sessions via their Facebook and YouTube channels.
In October, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) helped FENAVI, Colombia’s poultry association, move its biennial National Poultry Congress – one of the largest and most important gatherings of the local industry – to a virtual format to allow an ongoing forum for members of the poultry industry to get the information on supply, demand, nutrition and management.
Outreach in Colombia continued in November with a series of virtual events offered by Council staff covering the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report to help global grain buyers and end-users better understand the supply and demand factors at play in 2020. These events included a discussion with Colombian pork producer associations regarding the most relevant supply and demand factors for feed grains; one-on-one talks with major Colombian corn importers to help maintain steady growth in the market; and additional individual chats with the largest corn end-users in Colombia.
Colombia was the third largest market for U.S. corn in 2019/2020, with sales up slightly year-over-year to 4.91 million metric tons (193 million bushels). Representing nearly 11 percent of all U.S. corn exports, Colombian corn purchases were the second-highest volume on record, demonstrating how programs like these and partnerships with Colombian stakeholders are encouraging ongoing demand for U.S. corn.