The U.S. Grains Council continues to reap benefits from last year’s highly successful Export Exchange 2010 meeting in Chicago – and the ultimate winners are U.S. grain producers and overseas grain consumers.

A discussion between Moroccan and Tunisian feed grain users that began at Export Exchange 2010 has now led one of Morocco’s largest feed grain importers to send top officials to study operations at Tunisia’s Medimix feed company and Chahia poultry company.

The Moroccans, already buyers of U.S. corn, sorghum, distiller’s dried grains with solubles and barley, are considering an expansion into integrated poultry production and branded poultry products similar to what Medimix/Chahia is doing in Tunisia.

“This was an excellent example of one Council effort building on another,� said Cary Sifferath, USGC senior regional director for the Mediterranean and Africa.

“Despite the ongoing turmoil in North Africa, our staff was able to organize the Moroccan visit and take the delegation to Sfax, just two hours north of the Tunisian/Libyan border, for a very productive visit.�

In a further step, the Council is facilitating an upcoming visit to the United States and Costa Rica to help Moroccan importers increase their control over sourcing feed grain shipments by purchasing their grains Free on Board (FOB) rather than under Cost and Freight (CNF) terms.