The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) continued engagement with key sorghum customers in China throughout 2020 via webinars and one-on-one meetings, focusing on U.S. sorghum production, logistics, and supply and demand factors.
A sorghum outlook webinar in July attracted roughly 50 industry stakeholders from China and featured information sharing from USGC staff in China and the United States, along with U.S. sorghum industry representatives. Attendees had a lively discussion on the outlook for the new U.S. sorghum crop – including concerns about drought, pricing and other topics.
Council staff also met virtually with five companies in China in August of 2020 to discuss recent purchases of U.S. sorghum and provide insights into the forthcoming U.S. sorghum harvest.
China had exceeded the 2018/2019 total by July with a year-end export total with 2.84 million metric tons (112 million bushels) of U.S. sorghum purchased. Additionally, China had purchased 305,000 tons (12 million bushels) of new crop U.S. sorghum for the 2020/2021 marketing year in July of 2020.
The uptick in purchases directly followed the effective date for the Phase One trade deal inked between the United States and China in January.