Corn Quality Information Session Increases Japanese Buyer Confidence

To increase Japanese buyers’ confidence in the quality of U.S. corn, the U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC’s) Japan office recently hosted a corn quality information exchange for feed corn stakeholders in the country. Due to COVID-19, this event last occurred in person three years ago, and the Council hopes this year’s virtual event can reopen the door for the annual meeting to resume in the future.

“This annual meeting is important to keep the close and mutually reliable relationship in corn trade and keep Japan as a stable buyer of U.S. corn, consistently purchasing over 10 million metric tons (394 million bushels) annually,” said Tommy Hamamoto, USGC director in Japan.

U.S. organization representatives, including USGC Vice President Cary Sifferath, Hamamoto and North American Export Grains Association (NAEGA) President and CEO Gary Martin, in addition to several industry association representatives in Japan participated in the meeting at which attendees learned more about topics including the chemical and physical characteristics of recent U.S. corn, broken corn and foreign materials, and the weather and quality risk for this year’s crop. The Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) also provided the results of an export inspection.

“Through the meeting, both sides gained a better understanding of how this annual information exchange is an efficient venue for strengthening mutual understanding on U.S. corn quality concerns,” Hamamoto said.

Japan is currently the number three buyer of U.S. corn in the 2021/2022 marketing year, purchasing 7,648,142 metric tons (301,092,054 bushels) as of May.