Using Market Assess Program (MAP) funds, the U.S. Grains Council hosted a six-person team from Saudi Arabia to the biennial Export Exchange, held in October in Detroit, Michigan. The team included representatives of major feed grain importing companies in Saudi Arabia who visited corn producers, ethanol plants and major grain exporters in South Dakota and Michigan prior to participating in the main conference.
Export Exchange 2016 offered attendees a unique opportunity to meet and build relationships with domestic suppliers of corn, distiller’s dried grains with solubes (DDGS), sorghum, barley and other commodities. More than 200 international buyers and end-users of coarse grains and co-products from more than 35 countries joined 180 U.S. industry participants for the event.
At the conclusion of the conference, the Saudi participants were surveyed and they reported that they bought or were negotiating approximately 76,000 metric tons of corn and DDGS valued at $13 million. The Council invested approximately $95,000 in 2016 in hosting the delegation to Export Exchange generating a Return on Investment (ROI) of $136 for every $1 of MAP invested.