A delegation from a corn-milling company, Maciera Dominican, traveled to the United States this week to explore the status of the 2010 U.S. corn crop. Maciera Dominican typically purchases 70,000 metric tons (2.8 million bushels) of U.S. hard endosperm yellow corn for its corn milling operations. It was forced to switch to South American origin due to difficulties procuring hard endosperm corn out of the United States.

Maciera has been paying a $25/ton premium for flint Argentinan corn and is hoping to switch back to buying U.S. corn when the 2010 crop is harvested. The U.S. Grains Council hosted the delegation in Illinois and facilitated meetings with producers and exporters of hard endosperm corn. 

“While hardendosperm corn is a small export market, it is one of the few “value added� grain products that the United States offers,� said Kurt Shultz, USGC director in Latin America and the Caribbean Region. “It’s very important that we maintain or defend our existing markets. The Dominican Republic is our neighbor and an important customer of the United States. Getting this customer back to buying U.S. corn is critical.�