More than 100 buyers and sellers of U.S. coarse grains, representing 40 percent of the U.S. corn export market, gathered in Medellin, Colombia, this week for the U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC’s) 2015 Regional Buyers Conference.

Held every other year, the conference gathered the region’s top purchasers to hear about current marketing year supply and demand as well as logistics related to purchasing U.S. corn, sorghum, barley and co-products, like distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), corn gluten meal and ethanol. 

“In a price driven market, this conference helped to establish the loyalty of the Council and the U.S. grains industry to the prosperity of our customers’ businesses,� said Marri Carrow, USGC regional director for the Western Hemisphere, headquartered in Panama.

“Our speakers were able to provide a significant amount of information attendees can actually use in their businesses, to save money today and plan for the future in a changing global marketplace.�

Several speakers provided supply and demand projections, focusing on the overall outlook for coarse grains production as well as specific pictures for DDGS, sorghum, corn gluten feed and corn gluten meal.

Other sessions focused on the future of transportation logistics between U.S. suppliers and Latin American buyers, including contracting appropriately to manage freight risk. Managing market risk and balancing use of DDGS and corn gluten meal to ensure the highest possible nutrient value were also critical topics.

Ethanol is having an increasingly large impact on the global energy and agricultural commodity markets. Jim Miller, vice president and chief economist at Growth Energy in the United States, covered the relationships between domestic ethanol policy, ethanol exports and DDGS availability.

USGC Vice President Erick Erickson, who has been with the organization more than 30 years and is scheduled to retire later this summer, provided a longer-term outlook on profitability and risk management in grain markets.

As always, the real success of the conference happened during the breaks, in the halls and during the reception where attendees were able to share successes and obstacles and get to know one another.

“We truly believe our combined efforts and continued partnership will certainly aid future growth in our customers’ businesses and agricultural development in their countries,� Carrow said.

Click here to view photos from the conference.