A sharp rebound in U.S. corn exports to Korea helped power overall U.S. agricultural exports to that nation to $6.9 billion in fiscal year 2014, a new record. Including manufactured goods and services, Korea is the sixth largest U.S. trading partner internationally, just behind Germany and ahead of the United Kingdom and France.

Building on the established partnership, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and the Korean Feed Association hosted the fifth annual Feed Grains Trade Seminar in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 5. The seminar provided more than 160 buying officials, feed manufacturers, corn millers, traders and end-users the opportunity to improve their understanding of the U.S. supply and demand outlook for the coming year. 

“U.S. agricultural exports, including corn, are one of the areas where the United States runs a big surplus with Korea,” said Manuel Sanchez, USGC manager of global trade and one of the major presenters at the conference. “Korean buyers are very price sensitive, and with a good harvest, U.S. corn is competitive. Reliability is also important, and the United States is the world’s most reliable supplier.”

Topics included the U.S. and global supply and demand perspective, information about U.S. ethanol, and discussion of freight costs, including barge and rail rates in the United States and relative advantages of ocean shipping from the U.S. Gulf and Pacific Northwest. 

“Buyers don’t like surprises, and events like the Feed Grains Trade Seminar give us an opportunity to showcase U.S. reliability and transparency,” Sanchez said. “The competition is tougher every year. Our goal is to make U.S. coarse grains growers the partner of choice versus other producers around the world.”