Over the past decade, world sorghum production has risen slightly from 60 million metric tons (2.4 billion bushels) to 65 million metric tons (2.6 million bushels). While the United States, Argentina and Australia account for only 23 to 30 percent of this production, they remain the top exporters of sorghum – accounting for 93 to 97 percent of total world exports.

As the chart above shows, the United States maintained an export market share at or above 80 percent until 2006. During the past five years, U.S. share has declined, down to 57 percent in 2010/11, primarily losing ground to Argentina. Until 2009, sorghum production in Argentina was fairly stable at less than 3 million metric tons (118 million bushels) before jumping to 4.4 million metric tons (173 million bushels) in 2010/11. Subsequently, Argentina’s exports rose from less than 300,000 metric tons (12 million bushels) during the early years of the past decade to 1.87 million metric tons (74 million bushels) in 2010/11.