Sales of U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are up globally this year, with the largest regional gain on a percentage basis in Southeast Asia, where U.S. DDGS exports are up 27 percent year-over-year for the January-March period. That puts sales at 296,047 metric tons for the quarter, said the U.S. Grains Council, citing U.S. Depart­ment of Agriculture figures. The largest percentage growth within the region is Malaysia, which grew from 4,329 tons of U.S. DDGS imports in January-February 2010 to 16,347 tons in the same period this year, an increase of 278 percent.

“We are very active in promoting DDGS in Southeast Asia,� said Adel Yusupov, the Council’s regional director for more about U.S. DDGS and other feed products,� he said. “We’ve also brought trade teams to the United States to see how DDGS is produced and fed domestically.�

A key to the Council’s efforts in the region is a consulting nutritionist who visits customers and holds one-no-one meetings.

“He shows potential and existing customers how U.S. DDGS prices into their rations and helps them better un­derstand the value of feeding the ethanol co-product,� Yu­supov said. “This targeted approach has been very success­ful, and the increase in export sales demonstrates that.�