U.S. corn has traditionally enjoyed over 95 percent of the market share in the Japanese milling industry. This past year, however, the U.S. share dropped to around 80 percent due to the U.S. drought and the emergence of competitive suppliers. The U.S. Grains Council is seeking to recapture U.S. market share with one of the United States’ largest customers for corn through rebuilding Japanese miller’s confidence in U.S. corn.

“Last year’s high U.S. corn prices caused by the drought lost market share for U.S. corn in Japan,” said Tommy Hamamoto, USGC director in Japan. “Reminders of U.S. corn magnitude, reliability and resiliency are an important step to regaining Japanese corn end-users’ confidence in the U.S. corn supply.”

The Council escorted a team of Japanese corn millers through Illinois and Iowa to get a firsthand look at the plentiful U.S. corn production, to meet with U.S. corn farmers and to receive updated information on corn farming practices in the United States.

“During this trip, the end-users saw that this year’s corn crop would be far better than last year’s crop, which I believe will lead to a recovery of U.S. market share in the Japanese corn milling industry,” Hamamoto said.

Japan is a mature market for feed grains. The Japanese corn milling industry usually imports around 3 million metric tons (118 million bushels) of corn annually, which is about 21 percent of Japan’s total corn demand.