Corn Quality Rollout Event Reaches Top U.S. Grain Market, China

As the top buyer of U.S. grains in all forms in the 2020/2021 marketing year, building and maintaining relationships with key importers and end-users in China is a top priority in the U.S. Grains Council (USGC).

The Council’s China office presented the findings of the 2021/2022 Corn Harvest Quality Report to buyers and end-users in the country last week. The programming provided attendees with up-to-date market and harvest information before looking more closely at global corn production, U.S. corn production, and supply and demand.

“The Corn Harvest Quality Report has been designed to help international buyers understand the initial quality of U.S. yellow corn as it enters the market channel. This information is not only vital for our largest single export market of U.S. corn, but also timely as we look to continually serve the growing demand in China,” said Manuel Sanchez, USGC director in China.

Sanchez and Junyang Jiang, USGC assistant director in China, facilitated the event, introducing speakers and leading the question-and-answer session at the end of the program.

Attendees also heard from two other Council staff members, USGC Manager of Global Strategies and Trade Dr. Kyle Gilliam and USGC Manager of Global Trade Paige Stevenson. Gilliam presented the findings of the report while Stevenson shared insight on U.S. grains production, supply and demand for corn and sorghum.

“Globally, U.S. corn prices will become the cheapest. We anticipate that to happen as Argentina prices itself out of the market and supplies become less available there,” Stevenson said. “The U.S. has the most abundant supply of corn, so we can expect to become the cheapest corn price in the globe.”

The final speaker, Kale Petersen, a farmer and grain merchandiser in eastern Iowa, as well as a member of the Council’s Asia Advisory Team, provided the group with insight on this past growing season through the eyes of a producer.

The 2022 calendar year marks the 40th anniversary of the Council’s Beijing, China, office. Since its inception, the China office has collaborated with private industry, state-owned enterprises and government agencies to advance Chinese food security, safety and sustainability through trade. The Council’s China office looks forward to continuing to connect its valuable customers with U.S. farmers and their products.

“It’s important to keep the bridge open, and I think that is true to what we’re doing today. I feel that we, as the Council, serve as the bridge, just as we have since we opened our office in China,” Sanchez said.

Since the Phase One purchasing agreement between the U.S. and China came into force, U.S. corn exports to China have increased substantially. For the 2020/2021 marketing year (MY), corn exports to China were a record 21 million metric tons (MMT), while grains in all forms were 35.2 MMT.