By: Manuel Sanchez, U.S. Grains Council Manager of Global Trade

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) has a vital interest in the Western Hemisphere region, including the Caribbean. U.S. coarse grains and co-products have a natural market advantage in the region, although South American products have made inroads in recent years.

One such market is the Dominican Republic. Located only 800 miles (1,293 kilometers) away from the U.S. coast, it is a corn deficit country, importing 1.2 million metric tons (47 million bushels) annually.

Even though the United States has the freight advantage in shipping to this country, it has been experiencing tough competition from South American grain exporters. In fact, in the 2013/2014 marketing year, the Dominican Republic only imported 600,000 tons (23 million bushel) of U.S. corn. This is down significantly from the 2009/2010 marketing year in which the United States captured almost 90 percent of the market.

This past week, the Council traveled to the nation on the island of Hispaniola to continue its engagement there and present the findings of the 2014/2015 USGC Corn Harvest Quality Report to an eager audience of Dominican buyers and end-users.

The audience questioned broken corn and foreign material levels, however also commented that they are more satisfied with U.S. corn quality this year than in the past.

Continuing open dialogues like this with key markets a short distance from the United States border is a crucial step in sustaining and growing demand for U.S. coarse grains and co-products. The Council will continue to focus on recapturing and defending U.S. corn market share in the entire Caribbean region, including the Dominican Republic.