The numbers are in and this fall’s Export Exchange, hosted by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), is already paying dividends – to the tune of nearly a half billion dollars’ worth of grain and ethanol co-product sales.

In total, attendees of this biennial networking event reported sales of approximately 2.6 million metric tons of grains and co-products worth $460 million either at the conference or immediately before or after it.

The top grain traded during the two-day event was corn, with 924,000 metric tons (36 million bushels) collectively exchanged, followed by distiller’s dried grain with solubles (DDGS), with 875,000 metric tons exchanged. This means buyers at the conference struck deals to purchase an amount of DDGS equivalent to roughly 8 percent of last year’s total U.S. DDGS exports.

Other grains traded at Export Exchange included corn gluten at 25,200 metric tons; sorghum at 428,000 metric tons (17 million bushels); and barley at 5,000 metric tons (230,000 bushels).

Tom Sleight, president and CEO of USGC, said these sales figures are evidence that attendees took advantage of the unique buying opportunities the conference provides.

“Trade is absolutely critical to U.S. farmers right now, and these sales show that buyers attending Export Exchange 2016 took the opportunity to get their grains from U.S. sources very seriously,” he said.

“Putting buyers and sellers together, building and sustaining relationships with our top global grain buyers have been hallmarks of Council activities worldwide. We are thrilled to see how much actual trade was done at the show and in association with it.”

RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen noted that the sales numbers are indicative of the demand for U.S. produced grains and co-products.

“This conference and these tremendous sales figures show how much of an appetite there is globally for U.S.-produced feed grains and co-products. It’s no surprise that the top two commodities traded during the conference were corn and DDGS, a co-product of U.S. ethanol production. With a record corn supply anticipated for the 2016/2017 marketing year, exports will continue to be essential as we move forward in a global market,” he said.

The Export Exchange conference provides an ideal forum for continued relationship building among trading partners, offering education about the grain markets, extensive networking opportunities and field tours for international attendees making up USGC trade teams.

More about the conference is here, while photos from the conference and related USGC trade teams are here and here.